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THE  GENERAL 

BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY ; 

CONTAINING 
AN  HISTORICAL  AND  CRITICAL  ACCOUNT 

OF    THE 

LIVES  AND  WRITINGS 

OF   THE 

MOST    EMINENT    PERSONS 

IN    EVERY   NATION; 

PARTICULARLY  THE  BRITISH  AND  IRISH; 
FROM  THE  EARLIEST  ACCOUNTS  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

A  NEW  EDITION, 

REVISED   AND    ENLARGED    BY 

ALEXANDER  CHALMERS,  F.  S.  A. 
VOL.  XII. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED  FOR  J.  NICHOLS  AND  SON  ;  F.  C.  AND  J.  KIVINGTON  ;  T.  PAYNE  ; 
OTRIDGE  AND  SON  ;  G.  AND  W.  NICOL  ;  WILKIE  AND  ROBINSON  ;  J.  WALKER  ; 
R.  LEA;  W.  LOVVNDES  ;  WHITE,  COCHRANE,  AND  CO.;  J.  DE1GHTON; 
T.  EGERTON  ;  LACKINGTON,  ALLEN,  AND  CO.;  J.  CARPENTER;  LONGMAN, 
HURST,  REES,  ORME,  AND  CROWN;  CADELL  AND  DAVIES  ;  C.  LAW  ;  J.  BOOKER  ; 
J.  CUTHELL  ;  CLARKE  AND  SONS;  J.  AND  A.  ARCH;  J.  HARRIS;  BLACK, 
PARRY,  AND  CO.;  J.  BOOTH  ;  J.  MAWMAN  ;  GALE,  CURTIS,  AND  FENNER: 
R.  H.  EVANS;  J.  HATCHARD;  J.  HARDING;  R.  BALDWIN;  J.  MURRAY; 
),  JOHNSON  AND  CO.  ;  E.  BENTLEY  J  AND  J.  FAULDER. 

1813. 


I  OK 


v, 


LI 

74254* 

OF  - 


A  NEW   AND  GENERAL 
BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY. 


JLJESSAIX  (Louis  CHARLES  ANTHONY),  a  brave  French 
general  in  the  revolutionary  war,  was  born  August  17, 
1768,  at  Ayat,  in  the  department  of  Puy-de-Dome.  He 
was  educated  at  the  military  school  of  Effiat,  and  when 
the  revolution  broke  out,  refused  all  advice  to  emigrate, 
although  his  principles  were  inclined  to  royalty.  He  re- 
mained at  his  studies,  a  stranger  to  the  excesses  of  the 
factions,  and  a  stranger  even  to  the  names  by  which  they 
were  designated.  Absorbed  in  his  profession,  his  thoughts 
were  occupied  solely  by  military  manoeuvres,  traits  of  he- 
roism, and  fields  of  battle.  He  first  entered  the  foot  re- 
giment of  Britany,  as  sub-lieutenant,  in  1784  ;  but  in 
1792,  he  appeared  so  intelligent  and  active,  that  he  be- 
came successively  aide-de-camp  to  generals  Broglio  and 
Custine.  The  services  \vhich  were  derived  from  his  pre- 
sence of  mind  and  his  counsels,  on  occasion  of  the  reverses 
experienced  at  the  lines  of  Weissembourg,  induced  the 
national  commissaries  to  raise  him  to  the  rank  of  general 
of  brigade.  In  spite  of  his  merit,  however,  the  committee 
of  public  safety  twice  made  an  order  for  him  to  be  de- 
prived of  his  command,  with  which  the  general  in  chief 
constantly  refused  to  comply.  He  was  wholly  ignorant  of 
this  fact  till  a  third  order  arrived  to  the  same  effect,  at  the 
moment  when  he  had  gained  the  admiration  of  his  com- 
rades at  the  blockade  of  Landau  ;  and  the  whole  army  op- 
posed the  unjust  decree,  which  induced  the  commissary  to 
disregard  it.  Dessaix  commanded  the  left  wing  of  the 

o  .  o 

army  in  the  memorable  retreat  of  general  Moreau,  and  had 
VOL.  XII.  B 


2  D  E  S  S  A  I  X. 

his  full  share  in  the  dangers  and  laurels  of  that  campaign. 
He  returned  to  defend  Kehl  for  four  months  against  the 
whole  force  of  the  archduke  ;  and  under  him  the  army  ef- 
fected the  passage  of  the  Rhine,  in  circumstances  which 
rendered  it  as  daring  an  achievement  as  was  ever  at- 
tempted. 

After  the  treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  he  followed  Buona- 
parte into  Egypt,  and  was  by  him  presented  with  a  short 
sword,  superbly  wrought,  on  which  were  inscribed  the 
wofds  "  The  taking  of  Malta  ;  the  battle  of  Chebreis,  the 
battle  of  the  Pyramids."  He  was  charged  to  reduce 
Upper  Egypt,  whither  the  Mamelukes  had  retired  ;  here 
he  gained  several  victories;  and  he  acquired  a  distinction 
more  honourable  than  the  triumph  of  arms,  for  the  inha- 
bitants gave  him  the  title  of  "  The  Just  Sultan."  Re- 
turning from  Egypt  in  consequence  of  the  treaty  of  El 
Arisch,  he  was  detained  by  lord  Keith,  but  was  at  length 
set  at  liberty.  He  then  repaired  to  his  native  country, 
from  which  he  again,  with  the  utmost  expedition,  joined 
Buonaparte,  and  arrived  just  in  time  to  be  present  at  the 
battle  of  Marengo,  the  fate  of  which  he  turned,  and  in 
which  he  fell,  June  14,  1800,  esteemed  by  the  French 
soldiers,  honoured  by  the  Austrians,  and  loved  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

His  body  was  carried  to  Milan,  embalmed  there,  and 
placed  in  the  hospital  of  Mount  St.  Bernard,  where  a  mo- 
nument has  been  erected  to  his  memory.  Dessaix  united 
to  bravery  the  most  unimpeachable  probity,  and  in  all  re- 
spects seems  to  have  deserved  of  his  country  the  additional 
tribute  of  a  superb  monument  since  erected  at  Paris.  On 
this  is  commemorated  the  share  he  had  in  the  battles  of 
Landau,  Kehl,  Weissembourg,  Malta,  Chebreis,  the  Py- 
ramids, Sediman,  Sammanhout,  Kene,  Thebes,  and  Ma- 
rengo. 1 

DESSENIUS  (BERNARD),  an  eminent  physician,  born 
at  Amsterdam  in  1510,  was  sent  first  to  Lou  vain,  where 
he  soon  distinguished  himself  by  his  acquirements  in  clas- 
sical literature.  Declaring  at  length  for  the  practice  of 
medicine,  he  went  to  Bologna,  in  Italy,  and  in  1538  he 
took  his  degree  of  doctor  in  that  faculty.  A  vacancy  hap- 
pening soon  after  at  Groningen,  he  accepted  the  office  of 

1  Diet.  Hist.— Hist,  of  the  French  Revolution,  quoted  in  the  Month.  Rev. 
vol.  XLV.  N.  S. 


DESSEN1US.  3 

professor  of  the  practice  of  medicine,  which  he  taught  with 
reputation  for  nine  years.  From  thence,  invited  by  Ech- 
tius,  professor  in  medicine  there,  he  went  to  Cologne, 
where  he  was  admitted  member  of  the  college  of  physi- 
cians, and  received  a  considerable  pension  from  the  go- 
vernment. This  he  retained  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1574.  He  was  author  of  several  useful  works.  His  "  De 
Compositione  Medicamentorum,"  1555,  fol.  contains  many 
valuable  observations  and  improvements  on  the  formulae 
used  in  his  time.  "  De  Peste,  commentarius,  preservatio, 
et  curatio,"  Col.  1564,  4to.  He  speaks  of  a  leathern, 
jacket,  which  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  twenty-five 
persons,  who  had  received  the  infection  from  it,  and  been 
destroyed,  before  the  cause  was  discovered.  He  wrote 
also  in  defence  of  the  ancient  medicine,  and  against  the 
practice  introduced  by  Paracelsus.1 

DESTOUCHES  (PHILIP  NEUICAULT),  an  eminent  French 
dramatic  writer,  was  born  at  Tours,  in  1680,  of  a  reputable 
family,  which  he  left  early  in  life,  apparently  from  being 
thwarted  in  his  youthful  pursuits.  This,  however,  has  been 
contradicted ;  and  it  is  said  that  after  having  passed  through 
the  rudiments  of  a  literary  education  at  Tours,  he  went, 
with  the  full  concurrence  of  his  father,  to  Paris,  in  order  to 
complete  his  studies ;  that  being  lodged  with  a  bookseller  in 
the  capital,  he  fell  in  love  at  sixteen  with  a  young  person, 
the  relation  of  his  landlord,  the  consequences  of  which  amour 
were  such,  that  young  Destouches,  afraid  to  face  them,  en- 
listed as  a  common  soldier  in  a  regiment  under  orders  for 
Spain  ;  that  he  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Barcelona,  where 
he  narrowly  escaped  the  fate  of  almost  the  whole  company 
to  which  he  belonged,  who  were  buried  under  a  mine  sprung 
by  the  besieged.  What  became  of  him  afterwards,  to  the 
time  of  his  being  noticed  by  the  marquis  de  Puysieulx,  is 
not  certainly  known,  but  the  common  opinion  was,  that  he 
had  appeared  as  a  player  on  the  stage  ;  and  having  for  a 
long  time  dragged  his  wretchedness  from  town  to  town, 
was  at  length  nic'.nager  of  a  company  of  comedians  at  So- 
leure,  when  the  marquis  de  Puysieulx,  ambassador  from 
France  to  Switzerland,  obtained  some  knowledge  of  him 
by  means  of  an  harangue  which  the  young  actor  made  him 
at  the  head  of  his  comrades.  The  marquis,  habituated  by 
his  diplomatic  function  to  discern  and  appreciate  characters, 

1  Moreri. — Foppen  Bibl.  Belf.— Rees's  Cyclopaedia. — Haller  Bibl,  Me<I.  Pract. 

B  2 


*  DESTOUCHES. 

judged  that  one  who  could  speak  so  well,  was  destined  by 
nature  to  something  better  than  the  representation  of 
French  comedies  in  the  centre  of  Switzerland.  He  re- 
quested a  conference  with  Destouches,  sounded  him  on 
various  topics,  and  attached  him  to  his  person.  It  was  in 
Switzerland  that  his  talent  for  theatrical  productions  first 
displayed  itself;  and  his  "  Curieux  Impertinent"  was  ex- 
hibited there  with  applause.  His  dramatic  productions 
made  him  known  to  the  regent,  who  sent  him  to  London 
in  1717,  to  assist,  in  his  political  capacity,  at  the  nego- 
tiations then  on  foot,  and  while  resident  here,  he  had  a 
singular  negociation  to  manage  for  cardinal  Dubois,  to 
whom,  indeed,  he  was  indebted  for  his  post.  That  mi- 
nister directed  him  to  engage  king  George  I.  to  ask  for 
him  the  archbishopric  of  Cambray,  from  the  regent  duke 
of  Orleans.  The  king,  who  was  treating  with  the  regent 
on  affairs  of  great  consequence,  and  whom  it  was  the  in- 
terest of  the  latter  to  oblige,  could  not  help  viewing  this 
request  in  a  ridiculous  light.  "  How !"  said  he  to  Des- 
touches, "  would  you  have  a  protestant  prince  interfere 
in  making  a  French  archbishop  ?  The  regent  will  only 
laugh  at  it,  and  certainly  will  pay  no  regard  to  such  an  ap- 
plication." "  Pardon  me,  sire,"  replied  Destouches,^"  he 
will  laugh,  indeed,  but  he  will  do  what  you  desire."  He 
then  presented  to  the  king  a  very  pressing  letter,  ready 
for  signature.  "  With  all  my  heart,  then,"  said  the  king, 
and  signed  the  letter;  and  Dubois  became  archbishop  of 
Cambray.  He  spent  seven  years  in  London,  married  there, 
and  returned  to  his  country  ;  where  the  dramatist  and 
negociator  were  well  received.  The  regent  had  a  just 
sense  of  his  services,  and  promised  him  great  things  ;  but 
dying  soon  after,  left  Destouches  the  meagre  comfort  of 
reflecting  how  well  he  should  have  been  provided  for  if 
the  regent  had  lived.  Having  lost  his  patron,  he  retired 
to  Fortoiseau,  near  Melun,  as  the  properest  situation  to 
make  him  forget  the  caprices  of  fortune.  He  purchased 
the  place ;  and  cultivating  agriculture,  philosophy,  and 
the  muses,  abode  there  as  long  as  he  lived.  Cardinal 
Fleury  would  fain  have  sent  him  ambassador  to  Petersburg; 
but  Destouches  chose  rather  to  attend  his  lands  and  his 
woods,  to  correct  with  his  pen  the  manners  of  his  own 
countrymen  ;  and  to  write,  which  he  did  with  considerable 
effect,  against  the  infidels  of  France.  He  died  in  1754, 

'  O 

leaving  a  daughter  and  a  son  j    the  latter,  by  order  of 


DESTOUCHES.  >. 

Lewis  XV.  published  at  the  Louvre  an  edition  of  his  father's 
works,  in  4  vols.  4to.  Destouch.es  had  not  the  gaiety  of 
Regnard,  nor  the  strong  warm  colouring  of  Moliere ;  but 
he  is  always  polite,  tender,  and  natural,  and  has  been 
thought  worthy  of  ranking  next  to  these  authors.  He  de- 
serves more  praise  by  surpassing  them  in  the  morality  and 
decorum  of  his  pieces,  and  he  had  also  the  art  of  attaining 
the  pathetic  without  losing  the  vis  comica,  which  is  the 
essential  character  of  this  species  of  composition.  In  the 
various  connections  of  domestic  life,  he  maintained  a  truly 
respectable  character,  and  in  early  life  he  gave  evidence 
of  his  filial  duty,  by  sending  40,000  livres  out  of  his  savings 
to  his  father,  who  was  burthened  with  a  large  family.1 

DEVARIUS  (MATTHEW),  a  learned  Greek  scholar  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  in  the  island  of  Corfou,  of 
a  catholic  family.     At  the  age  of  eight  he  was  taken  to 
Rome  by  John   Lascaris,  and  placed  with  other  eastern 
youths  in  the  Greek  college,    which  had  been  just  es- 
tablished.    Having  made  great  progress  in   this  language, 
cardinal  Rodolphi  gave  him  the  care  of  his  library,   which 
office  he  held  for  fifteen  years,  and  in   that  time  he  com- 
piled an  index  to  Eustathius's  commentary  on   Homer,  for 
which  pope  Paul  III.  gave  him  a  pension ;  and  Paul  IV. 
who  continued  this  pension,  made   him  corrector  of  the 
Greek  MSS.  in  the  Vatican.     On  the   death  of  cardinal 
Rodolphi,    Marc -Antony   Colonna,    who    was    afterwards 
cardinal,  became  scholar  to  Devarius  for  three  years  in 
the  Greek  language.     He  was  afterwards  patronized  by 
the  cardinal  Farnese  ;  and  died  in  his  service,  about  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his 
age.     By  order  of  pope  Pius  V.  he  translated  the  cate- 
chism of  the  council  of  Trent  into  Greek  ;  but  the  work 
for   which  he  is  best  known  is  entitled  "  De   Particulis 
Graecae   linguae  liber  particularis,"    of  which  there  have 
been  many  editions,  the  first  published  by  his  nephew, 
Peter  Devarius,  at  Rome,  in  1558,  4to,  and  reprinted  at 
London,  1657,  12mo  ;  Amsterdam,  1700  and  1718,  &c.  &c.3 
DEVAUX    (JoiiN),    an   eminent   surgeon   of  Paris,    in 
which  city  he  was  born  January  27,  1649,  was  the  son   of 
John  Devaux,  a  man  of  eminence  in  the  same  profession. 
He  became  provost  and  warden  of  the  surgeons'  company, 

1  Eloge  by  d'Alembert.— Diet.  Hist. 

-  Moreri. — Morhof  Polyhist,— Fabric.  Sibl.  Grsec. — Saxii  Onomast, 


«  D  E  V  A  U  X. 

and  was  universally  esteemed  for  his  skill  and  his  writings. 
He  died  May  2,  1729,  at  Paris.  His  works  are,  "  Le 
Medecin  de  soi  meme,"  12mo. ;  "  L'art  de  faire  des  rap- 
ports en  Chirurgie,"  12mo;  "Index  funereus  Chirurgo- 
rum  Parisiensium,  ab  anno  1315  ad  annum  1714,"  12mo, 
with  several  others ;  and  translations  of  many  excellent 
works  on  physic  and  surgery,  particularly  Allen's  "  Syn- 
opsis Medicinae  practices,"  Harris's  "  De  morbis  infantum," 
Cockburne  **  De  Gonorrhasa;"  Freind's  "  Emmenologia," 
&c.  &C.1 

DEVENTER  (HENRY),  a  celebrated  man-midwife,  was 
born  at  Deventer,  in  the  province  of  Over-Yssel,  in  Hol- 
land, towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Though 
skilled  in  every  branch  of  medicine,  and  honoured  with 
the  dignity  of  doctor  in  that  faculty,  he  was  principally 
employed  in  surgery,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  lite  he 
almost  entirely  confined  himself  to  the  practice  of  mid- 
wifery, in  which  art  he  made  considerable  improvements. 
He  acquired  also  no  small  share  of  fame  by  his  various  me- 
chanical inventions  for  assisting  in  preventing  and  curing 
deformities  of  the  body  in  young  subjects.  In  that  ca- 
pacity he  was  repeatedly  sent  for  to  Denmark,  whence  he 
drew  a  considerable  revenue.  His  knowledge  of  me- 
chanics did  not,  however,  prevent  his  observing  that  much 
mischief  was  done  by  the  too  frequent  use  of  instruments 
in  midwifery ;  and  he  introduced  such  improvements  in 
the  art,  as  gave  him  a  decided  preference  over  Mauriceau, 
his  almost  immediate  precursor.  Satisfied  with  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  his  practice  was  founded,  he  published  in 
1701,  "  Operationes  Chirurgicse  novum  lumen  exhibentes 
obstetricantibus,"  Leyden,  4to,  which  had  been  published 
in  169h,  in  his  native  language.  This  was  followed  by  a 
second  part,  in  1724,  4to,  "  Ulterius  examen  partuum 
difficilium,  Lapis  Lydius  obstetricum,  et  de  necessaria  ca- 
daverum  incisione."  The  two  parts  were  published  to- 
gether, much  improved,  in  1733,  but  the  work  had  already 
been  translated  and  published  in  most  of  the  countries  in 
Europe.  How  long  the  author  continued  to  live  after  the 
publication  of  this  improved  edition  is  not  known. 

He  had  often,  he  says,  been  required  to  let  the  world 
know,  by  advertisement,  what  kind  of  defects  in  the  form 
of  the  body  he  was  able  to  cure  or  relieve,  but  had  not 

i  Moreri, 


DEVENTER.  7 

thought  it  expedient  to  do  so  ;  these  he  has  enumerated 
and  described  at  the  end  of  the  work.  They  are  twenty- 
two  in  number;  among  them  are  the  following  :  when  the 
head,  from  a  contraction  of  the  tendons,  fell  on  one  of  the 
shoulders,  he  enabled  the  party  to  hold  his  head  erect. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  a  child  came  into  the  world  club- 
footed,  so  that  it  could  only  touch  the  ground  with  its 
ancles,  he  completely,  he  says,  cured  the  defect,  and  he 
was  so  sure  of  his  principles,  that  he  required  no  part  of 
his  stipulated  pay  until  the  cure  was  effected.  Some  time 
after  his  death,  viz.  in  1739,  a  posthumous  work  was  pub- 
lished on  the  rickets,  in  his  native  language.  Haller  speaks 
favourably  of  it,  and  has  given  a  brief  analysis  of  its  con- 
tents, by  which  it  appears  to  contain  some  useful  practical 
observations.  * 

DEVEREUX  (WALTER),  the  first  earl  of  Essex  of  this 
name  and  family,  a  general  equally  distinguished  for 'his 
courage  and  conduct,  and  a  nobleman  not  more  illustrious 
by  his  titles  than  by  his  birth,  was  descended  from  a  most 
ancient  and  noble  farrr!",,  being  the  son  of  sir  Richard  De- 
vereux,  knight,  by  Do  'thy,  daughter  of  George  earl  of 
Huntingdon,  and  gra.idson  of  Walter  viscount  of  Hereford, 
so  created  by  king  E-  .vard  the  Sixth.  He  was  b'.;m  about 
1540,  at  his  grandfatner's  castle  in  Carmarthenshire,  and 
during  his  education  applied  himself  to  his  studies  with 
great  diligence  and  success.  He  succeeded  to  the  titles  of 
viscount  Hereford  and  lord  Ferrers  of  Chartley,  in  the 
nineteenth  year  of  his  age,  and  being  early  distinguished 
for  his  modesty,  learning,  and  loyalty,  stood  in  higii  favour 
with  his  sovereign,  queen  Elizabeth.  In  1569,  upon  the 
breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  in  the  north,  under  the  earls 
of  Northumberland  and  Westmoreland,  he  raised  a  con- 
siderable body  of  forces,  which  joining  those  belonging  to 
the  lord  admiral  and  the  earl  of  Lincoln,  he  was  declared 
marshal  of  the  army,  and  obliged  the  rebels  to  disperse. 
This  so  highly  recommended  him  to  the  queen,  that  in 
1572  she  honoured  him  with  the  garter,  and  on  the  4th  of 
May,  the  same  year,  created  him  earl  of  Essex,  as  being 
descended  by  his  great  grandmother  from  the  noble 
family  of  Bourchier,  long  before  honoured  with  the  same 
title.  In  the  month  of  January  following,  he  was  one  of 
the  peers  that  sat  in  judgment  upon  the  duke  of  Norfolk. 

1  Diet.  Hist.— Rees's  Cyclopedia.— Haller  Bibl.  Chir. 


£  DEVEREUX. 

At  this  time  he  was  such  a  favourite  with  the  queen,  that 
some,  who  were  for  confining  her  good  graces  to  them- 
selves, endeavoured  to  remove  him.  by  encouraging  an  in- 
clination he  shewed  to  adventure  both  his  person  and  for- 
tune for  her  majesty's  service  in  Ireland.     Accordingly,  on 
the  16th  of  August,  1573,  he  embarked  at  Liverpool,  accom- 
panied by  lord  Darcy,  lord  Rich,  and  many  other  persons  of 
distinction,  together  with  a  multitude  of  volunteers,  who 
were  incited  by  the  hopes  of  preferment,  and  his  lordship's 
known  reputation.     His  reception  in  Ireland  was  not  very 
auspicious ;  landing  at  Knockfergus   on  the  J  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, he  found  the  chiefs  of  the  rebels  inclined  appa- 
rently to  submit ;  but  having  gained  time,  they  broke  out 
again  into  open  rebellion.     Lord  Rich  was  called  away  by 
his  own  affairs,  and  by  degrees,  most  of  those  who  went 
abroad  with  the  earl,  came  home  again  upon  a  variety  of 
pretences.     In  this  situation  Essex   desired   the   queen  to 
carry  on  the  service  in  her  own   name,  and  by  her  own 
command,  though  he  should  be  at  one  half  of  the  expence. 
Afterwards  he  applied  to  the  earls  of  Sussex  and  Leicester, 
and  the  lord  Burleigh,  to  induce  the  queen  to  pay  one 
hundred  horse  and  six  hundred  foot ;  which,  however,  did 
not  take   effect ;    but   the    queen,    perceiving    the  slight 
put  upon  him,  and  that  the  lord  deputy  had  delayed  send- 
ing him  his  commission,  was  inclined  to  recal  him  out  of 
Ulster,  if  Leicester  and  others,  who  had  promoted  his  re- 
moval, had  not  dissuaded  her.     The  lord  deputy,  at  last, 
in  1574,  sent  him  his  patent,  but  with  positive  orders  to 
pursue  the  earl  of  Desmond  oneway,  while  himself  pressed 
him  another.     The  earl  of  Essex  reluctantly  obeyed,  and 
either  forced  or  persuaded  the  earl  of  Desmond  to  submis- 
sion ;   and  it  is  highly  probable,  would  have  performed 
more  essential  service,  if  he  had  not  been  thwarted.     The 
same  misfortune   attended  his  subsequent  attempts ;  and, 
excepting  the  zeal  of  his  attendants,  the  affection  of  the 
English  soldiers,  and  the  esteem  of  the  native  Irish,  he 
gained    nothing    by  all  his  pains.     Worn  out    at  length 
with  these  fruitless  fatigues,  he,  the  next  year,    desired 
leave  to  conclude  upon  honourable  terms  an  accommoda- 
tion with  Turlough  Oneile,  which  was  refused  him.     He 
then  surrendered  the  government  of  Ulster  into  the  lord 
deputy's  hands,    believing    the  forces  allowed   him   alto- 
gether insufficient  for  its  defence ;  but    the  lord  deputy 
obliged  him  to  resume  it,  and  to  majrch  against  Turlough, 


DEVEREUX.  9 

Oneile,    which  he  accordingly    did  ;    and   his   enterprize 
"being  in  a  fair  way  of  succeeding,  he  was  surprized  to  re- 
ceive  instructions,    which    peremptorily  required    him    to 
make  peace.     This  likewise  he  concluded,  without  loss  of 
honour,  and  then  turned  his  arms   against  the   Scots  from 
the  western  islands,  who  had  invaded  and  taken  possession, 
of  his  country.     These  he  quickly  drove  out,  and,  by  the 
help  of  Norris,  followed  them  into  one   of  their  islands  ; 
and  was  preparing  to  dispossess  them  of  other  posts,  when 
he  was  required  to  give  up  his  command,  and  afterwards 
to  serve  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  three  hundred  men, 
with  no  other  title  than  their  captain.     All  this  he  owed  to 
Leicester;   but,  notwithstanding  his  chagrin,   be  continued 
to  perform  his  duty,  without  any  shew  of  resentment,  out 
of  respect  to  the  queen's  service.     In  the  spring  of  the 
succeeding  year  he  came  over  to  England,  and  did  not  he- 
sitate to  express  his   indignation  against  the  all-powerful 
favourite,  for  the  usage  he  had  met  xvith.     But  as  it  was 
the  custom  of  that  great  man  to  debase  his  enemies  by 
exalting  them,  so  he  procured  an  order  for  the  earl  of  Es- 
sex's return  into  Ireland,  with  the  sounding  title  of  earl -mar- 
shal of  that  kingdom,  and  with  promises  that  he  should  be  left 
more  at   liberty  than  in  times  past;   but,  upon   his  arrival 
at  Ireland,  he  found  his   situation  so  Uttle  altered  for  the 
better,  that  he  pined  away  with  grief  and  sorrow,  which  at 
length    proved    fatal    to    him,    and    brought   him    to  his 
end.     There    is   nothing   more   certain,    either    from    the 
public  histories,  or  private  memoirs  and  letters,  of  that  age, 
than    the    excellent    character    of    this  noble  earl,    as    a 
brave  soldier,  a  loyal  subject,  and  a  disinterested  patriot ; 
and  in  private  life  he  was  of  a  chearful  temper,  kind,  af- 
fectionate, and  beneficent  to  all  who  were  about  him.      He 
was  taken  ill  of  a  flux  on  the  21st  of  August,  and  in  great 
pain   and   misery    languished    to   the  22d   of  September, 
1576,  when  he  departed  this  life  at  Dublin,  being  scarcely 
thirty-five  years  old.     There  was  a  very  strong  report  at 
the  time,  of  his  being  poisoned  ;  but  for  this  there  seems 
little  foundation,  yet  it  must  have  been  suspected,  as  an 
inquiry  was  immediately  made  by  authority,  and  sir  Henry 
Sidney,  then  lord  deputy  of  Ireland,  wrote  very  fully  upon 
this  subject  to  the  privy-council  in   England,  and   to  one 
of  the  members  of  that  council  in  particular.    The  corpse 
of  the  earl  was  speedily  brought  over  to  England,   carried 
to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  Carmarthen,  and  buried  there 


10  D  E  V  E  R  E  U  X. 

with  great  solemnity,  and  with  most  extraordinary  i< 
monies  of  the  unfeigned  sorrow  of  all  the  country  round 
about.  A  funeral  sermon  was  preached  on  this  occasion, 
Nov.  26,  1576,  and  printed  at  London  1577,  4to.  He 
married  Lettice,  daughter  to  sir  Frances  Knolles,  knight 
of  the  garter,  who  survived  him  many  years,  and  whose 
speedy  marriage  after  his  death  to  the  earl  of  Leicester, 
upon  whom  common  fame  threw  the  charge  of  hastening 
his  death,  perhaps  might  encourage  that  report.  By  this 
lady  he  had  two  sons,  Robert  and  Walter,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, Penelope,  first  married  to  Robert  lord  Rich,  and 
then  to  Charles  Blount,  earl  of  Devonshire  ;  and  Dorothy, 
who  becoming  the  widow  of  sir  Thomas  Perrot,  knight, 
espoused  for  her  second  husband  Henry  Percy  earl  of 
Northumberland. 

One  important  objection  only  has  been  brought  forward 
against  the  character  of  the  first  earl  of  Essex,  which  is 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Leland,  in  his  History  of  Ireland.  The 
story,  as  literally  translated  by  Mr.  O'Connor,  from  the 
Irish  manuscript  annals  of  queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Anno  1574.  A  solemn  peace  and  concord  was 
made  between  the  earl  of  Essex  and  Felim  O'Nial.  How- 
ever, at  a  feast  wherein  the  earl  entertained  that  chieftain, 
and  at  the  end  of  their  good  cheer,  O'Nial  with  his  wife 
\vere  seized,  their  friends  who  attended  were  put  to  the 
sword  before  their  faces.  Felim,  together  with  his  wife 
and  brother,  were  conveyed  to  Dublin,  where  they  were 
cut  up  in  quarters.  This  execution  gave  universal  discon- 
tent and  horrour."  Considering  the  general  character  of 
the  earl  of  Essex,  we  cannot  avoid  greatly  doubting  of  the 
authenticity  of  this  fact;  and  indeed,  if  it  was  founded 
on  truth,  it  must  appear  very  extraordinary  that  it  should 
not  have  occurred  in  any  other  narrative  of  the  times. 

Mr.  Park  has  allotted  this  nobleman  a  place  in  his  ad- 
ditions to  the  "  Royal  and  Noble  Authors,"  as  having  writ- 
ten "  The  Complaint  of  a  Sinner,  made  and  sung  by  the 
earle  of  Essex  upon  his  beath-bed  in  Ireland,"  printed  in 
the  "  Paradise  of  dainty  Devises,"  1576.  There  is  a  copy 
of  this  in  the  Harleian  MSS.  293,  with  an  account  of  the 
earl's  sickness  and  death,  which  latter  is  ascribed  to  a 
dysentery,  without  any  hint  of  poison.  Besides  this,  the 
earl  wrote  a  letter  to  the  council,  another  to  the  queen, 
and  a  third  to  lord  Burleigh,  all  which  afford  favourable 
proofs  of  his  talents  and  excellent  character.  The  former 


DEVEREUX.  11 

is  inserted  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  and  the  two  latter 
in  Murden's  State  Papers.1 

DEVEREUX  (ROBERT),  earl  of  Essex,  memorable  for 
having  been  a  great  favourite,  and  an  unhappy  victim  to 
the  arts  of  his  enemies  and  his  own  ambition,  m  the  reign 
of  queen  Elizabeth,  was  son  of  the  preceding,  and  born 
Nov.  10,  1567,  at  Netherwood,  his  father's  seat  in  Here- 
fordshire. His  father  dying  when  he  was  only  in  his  10th 
year,  recommended  him  to  the  protection  of  William  Cecil 
lord  Burleigh,  whom  he  appointed  his  guardian.  Two 
years  after,  he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Cambridge  by 
this  lord,  who  placed  him  in  Trinity  college,  under  the 
care  of  Dr.  Whitgift,  then  master  of  it,  and  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.  But  Mr.  Cole,  for  many  reasons, 
is  inclined  to  think  that  he  was  placed  at  Queen's,  under 
Dr.  Chaderton.  He  was,  however,  educated  with  much 
strictness,  and  applied  himself  to  learning  with  great  dili- 
gence ;  though  it  is  said  that,  in  his  tender  years,  there 
did  not  appear  aoy  pregnant  signs  of  that  extraordinary 
genius  which  shone  forth  in  him  afterwards.  In  1583,  he 
took  the  decree  of  M.  A.  and  kept  his  public  act,  and  soon 
after  left  Cambridge,  and  retired  to  his  own  house  at 
Lampsie  in  South  Wales,  where  he  spent  some  time,  and 
became  so  enamoured  of  his  rural  retreut,  that  he  was  with 
difficulty  prevailed  on  to  quit  it.  His  first  appearance  at 
court,  at  least  as  a  candidate  for  royal  favour,  was  in  his 
seventeenth  year;  and  he  brought  thither  a  fine  person,  an 
agreeable  behaviour,  and  an  affability  which  procured  him 
many  friends.  By  degrees  he  so  far  overcame  the  reluct- 
ance he  first  shewed  against  the  earl  of  Leicester,  his  fa- 
ther's enemy,  and  now  very  strangely  his  father-in-law, 
that  in  1585  he  accompanied  him  to  Holland,  where  we 
find  him  next  year  in  the  field,  with  the  title  of  general  of 
the  horse.  In  this  quality  he  gave  the  highest  proofs  of 
personal  courage  in  the  battle  of  Zutphen,  fought  in  1586; 
and,  on  his  return  to  England,  was  made,  the  year  after, 
master  of  the  horse  in  the  room  of  lord  Leicester  promoted. 
In  1588,  he  continued  to  rise,  and  indeed  almost  reached 
the  summit  of  his  fortune  ;  for,  when  her  majesty  thought 
fit  to  assemble  an  army  at  Tilbury,  for  the  defence  of  the 
kingdom  against  the  Spanish  invasion,  she  gave  the  com- 

1  Biog.  Brit — Fuller's  Worthies.— Lloyd's  State  Worthies.  —  Park's  Or- 
ford,  vol.  II. 


12  DEVEREUX. 

mand  of  it,  under  herself,  to  the  earl  of  Leicester,  and 
created  the  earl  of  Essex  general  of  the  horse.  From  this 
time  he  was  considered  as  the  favourite  declared  ;  and  if 
there  was  any  mark  yet  wanting  to  rix  the  people's  opinion 
in  that  respect,  it  was  shewn  by  the  queen's  conferring  on 
him  the  honour  of  the  garter. 

So  quick  an  elevation,  and  to  so  great  an  height,  unfortu- 
nately excited  an  impetuosity  of  spirit  that  was  natural  to  the 
earl  of  Essex,  who,  among  other  instances  of  uncontrouled 
temper,  often  behaved  petulantly  to  the  queen  herselft 
who  did  not  admit,  while  she  sometimes  provoked,  free- 
doms of  that  kind  from  her  subjects.  His  eagerness  about 
this  time  to  dispute  her  favour  with  sir  Charles  Blunt,  af- 
terwards lord  Montjoy  and  earl  of  Devonshire,  ended  in  a 
duel,  in  which  sir  Charles  wounded  him  in  the  knee.  The 
queen,  so  far  from  being  displeased  with  it,  is  said  to  have 
sworn  a  good  round  oath,  that  it  was  fit  somebody  should 
take  him  down,  otherwise  there  would  be  no  ruling  him, 
yet  she  assisted  in  reconciling  the  rivals;  who,  to  their 
honour,  continued  good  friends  as  long  as  they  lived.  la 
1589,  sir  John  Norris  and  sir  Francis  Drake  having  under- 
taken an  expedition  for  restoring  don  Antonio  to  the  crown 
of  Portugal,  the  earl  of  Essex,  willing  to  share  the  glory, 
followed  the  fleet  and  army  to  Spain  ;  which  displeasing 
the  queen  very  bighty,  as  it  was  done  without  her  consent 
or  knowledge,  she  sent  him  the  following  letter  :  "  Essex, 
your  sudden  and  undutifnl  departure  from  our  presence 
and  your  place  of  attendance,  you  may  easily  conceive 
how  offensive  it  is  and  ought  to  be  unto  us.  Our  great  fa- 
vours, bestowed  upon  you  without  deserts,  have  drawn  you. 
thus  to  neglect  and  forget  your  duty  ;  for  other  construc- 
tion we  cannot  make  of  these  your  strange  actions.  Not 
meaning,  therefore,  to  tolerate  this  your  disordered  part, 
we  gave  directions  to  some  of  our  privy-council,  to  let  you 
know  our  express  pleasure  for  your  immediate  repair 
hither,  which  you  have  not  performed  as  your  duty  doth 
bind  you,  increasing  thereby  greatly  your  former  offence 
and  undutiful  behaviour  in  departing  in  such  sort  without 
our  privity,  having  so  special  office  of  attendance  and 
charge  near  our  person.  We  do  therefore  charge  and 
command  you  forthwith,  upon  the  receipt  of  these  our 
letters,  all  excuses  and  delays  set  apart,  to  make  your  pre- 
sent and  immediate  repair  nnto  us,  to  understand  our  far- 
ther pleasure.  Whereof  see  you  fail  not,  as  you  will  be 


D  E  V  E  R  E  U  X.  13 

loth  to  incur  our  indignation,  and  will  answer  for  the  con- 
trary at  your  uttermost  peril.     The  15th  of  April,  1589." 

At  his  return,  however,  he  soon  recovered  her  majesty's 
good  graces,  but  again  irritated  her  by  a  private  match 
\ttth   Frances,   only  daughter  of  sir  Francis  Walsingham, 
and  widow  of  sir  Philip  Sidney.     This  her  majesty  appre- 
hended to  be  derogatory  to  the  honour  of  the  house  of 
Essex  ;  and,  though  for  the  present,  little  notice  was  taken 
of  it,  yet  it  is  thought  that  it  was  not  soon  forgot.  In  1591, 
he  went  abroad,    at  the  head  of  some  forces,   to  assist 
Henry  IV.  of   France  :   which   expedition   was   afterwards 
repeated,  but  with   little   or  no  success.     In    1592-3,  we 
find  him  present  in   the  parliament  at  Westminster,  about 
which  time  the  queen  made  him  one  of  her  privy-council. 
He  met,  however,  in  this  and  the  succeeding  years,  with 
various  causes  of  chagrin,  partly  from  the  loftiness  of  his 
own  temper,  but  chiefly  from  the  artifices  of  those  who 
envied  his  great  credit  with  the  queen,   and  were  desirous 
to  reduce  his  power  within   bounds.     Thus   a  dangerous 
and  treasonable  book,  written  abroad  by  Parsons,  a  Jesuit, 
and  published  under  the  name  of  Doleman,  with  a  view  of 
creating  dissension  in  England  about  the  succession  to  the 
crown,  was   dedicated   to  him,  on   purpose  to   make  him 
odious  ;  and  it  had  its  effect.     But  what  chiefly  soured  his 
spirit,  was  his  perceiving  plainly,  that  though  he  could  in 
most  suits  prevail  for  himself,  yet  he  was  able  to  do  little 
or  nothing  for  his  friends.     This  appeared   remarkably  in 
the  case  of  sir  Francis  Bacon,  which  the  earl  bore  with 
much  impatience ;   and,  resolving  that  his  friend  should 
not  be  neglected,  gave  him  of  his  own  a  small  estate  in 
land.     There  are  indeed  few  circumstances  in  the  life  of 
this  noble  person,   that  do  greater  honour  to  his  memory, 
than  his  patronage  of  men  of  parts  and  learning.     It  was 
this  regard  for  genius  which  induced  him  to  bury  the  im- 
mortal Spenser  at  his  own  expence  ;  and  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  life,  engaged  him  to  take  the   learned  sir  Henry 
Wotton,  and  the  ingenious  Mr.  Cuffe,  into  his  service  :  as 
in  his  earlier  days  he  had  admitted  the  incomparable  bro- 
thers, Anthony  and  Francis  Bacon,  to  share  his  fortunes 
and  his  cares. 

But  whatever  disadvantages  the  earl  might  labour  under 
from*  intrigues  at  court,  the  queen  had  commonly  recourse 
to  his  assistance  in  all  dangers  and  difficulties,  and  placed 
him  at  the  head  of  her  fleets  and  armies,  preferably  to  any 


14  DEVEREUX. 

other  person.     His  enemies,  on  the  other  hand,  were  con- 
triving and  exerting  all  they  could  against  him,  by  insinu- 
ating  to   the  queen,   that,  considering    his  popularity,  it 
would  not  be  at  all  expedient  for  her  service  to  receive 
such  as  he  recommended  to  civil  employments;  and  they 
carried  this  so  far,  as  even  to  make  his  approbation  a  suffi- 
cient objection  to  men  whom  they  had  encouraged  and 
recommended  themselves.     In  1598,  a  warm  dispute  arose 
in   the  council,  between  the  old  and  wise  lord -treasurer 
Burleigh  and  the  earl  of  Essex,  about  continuing  the  war 
with  Spain.     The  earl  was  for  it,  the  treasurer  against  it; 
who  at  length  grew  into  a  great  heat,  and  told  the  earl  that 
he  seemed  intent  upon  nothing  but  blood  and  slaughter. 
The  earl  explained  himself,  and  said,   that  the  blood  and 
slaughter  of  the  queen's  enemies  might  be  very  lawfully 
his  intention  ;  that  he  was  not  against  a  solid,   but  a  spe- 
cious and  precarious  peace ;  that  the   Spaniards  were  a 
subtle  and  ambitious  people,  who  had  contrived  to  do  Eng- 
land more  mischief  in  the  time  of  peace,  than  of  war,  &c. 
The  treasurer  at  last  drew  out  a  Prayer-book,  in  which  he 
shewed  Essex  this  expression  :  "  Men  of  blood  shall  not 
live  out  half  their  days."     As  the  earl  knew  that  methods 
would  be  used  to  prejudice  him  with  the  people  of  Eng- 
land, especially  the  trading  part,  who  would  easily  be  per- 
suaded to  think  themselves  oppressed  by  taxes  levied  for 
the  support  of  the  war,  he  resolved  to  vindicate  his  pro- 
ceedings, and  for  that  purpose  drew  up  in  writing  his  own 
arguments,  which  he  addressed  to  his  dear  friend  Anthony 
Bacon.     This  apology  stole  into  the  world  not  long  after  it 
was  written ;  and  the  queen,   it  is  said,   was  exceedingly 
offended  at  it.     The  title  of  it  runs  thus  :  "  To  Mr.  An- 
thony Bacon,  an  Apologie  of  the  Earle  of  Essexe,  against 
those  which  falselie  and  maliciouslie  take  him  to  be  the 
only  hindrance  of  the  peace  and  quiet  of  his  countrie." 
This  was  reprinted  in  1729,   under  the  title  of  "The  Earl 
of  Essex's  vindication  of  the  war  with  Spain,"  in  Svo. 

About  this  time  died  the  treasurer  Burleigh,  which  was 
a  great  misfortune  to  the  earl  of  Essex  ;  for  that  lord  hav- 
ing shewn  a  tenderness  for  the  earl's  person,  and  a  concern 
for  his  fortunes,  had  many  a  time  stood  between  him  and 
his  enemies.  But  now,  this  guardian  being  gone,  they 
acted  without  any  restraint,  crossed  whatever  he  proposed, 
stopped  the  rise  of  every  man  he  loved,  and  treated  all  his 
projects  with  an  air  of  contempt.  He  succeeded  lord 


DEVEREUX.  IS 

Burleigh  as  chancellor  of  the  university  of  Cambridge ; 
and,  going  down,  was  there  entertained  with  great  mag- 
nificence*. This  is  reckoned  one  of  the  last  instances  of 
this  great  man's  felicity,  who  was  now  advanced  too  high 
to  sit  at  ease  ;  and  those  who  longed  for  his  honours  and 
employments,  very  closely  applied  themselves  to  bring 
about  his  fall.  The  first  great  shock  he  received  came 
from  the  queen  herself,  and  arose  from  a  warm  dispute 
with  her  majesty  about  the  choice  of  some  fit  and  able  per- 
son to  superintend  the  affairs  of  Ireland.  Camden  tells 
us,  that  there  were  only  present  on  this  remarkable  occa- 
sion, the  lord  admiral,  sir  Robert  Cecil,  secretary;  and 
"Windebanke,  clerk  of  the  seal.  The  queen  considered 
sir  William  Knolls,  uncle  to  Essex,  as  the  most  proper 
person  for  that  charge  :  Essex  contended,  that  sir  George 
Carew  was  a  much  fitter  man  for  it.  When  the  queen 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  approve  his  choice,  he  so  far 
forgot  himself  and  his  duty,  as  to  turn  his  back  upon  her  in 
a  contemptuous  manner ;  which  insolence  her  majesty  not 
being  able  to  bear,  gave  him  a  box  on  the  ear,  and,  some- 
what in  her  father's  language,  bid  him  "  go  and  be  hanged.'* 
He  immediately  clapped  his  hand  on  his  sword,  and  the 
lord  admiral  stepping  in  between,  he  swore  a  great  oath, 
declaring  that  he  neither  could  nor  would  put  up  an  affront 
of  that  nature  ;  that  he  would  not  have  taken  it  at  the 
hands  of  Henry  VIII.  and  in  a  great  passion  immediately 
withdrew  from  court.  The  lord  keeper  advised  him  to 
apply  himself  to  the  queen  for  pardon.  He  sent  the  lord 
keeper  his  answer  in  a  long  and  passionate  letter,  which 
his  friends  afterwards  unadvisedly  communicated;  in 
which  he  appealed  from  the  queen  to  God  Almighty,  in 
expressions  to  this  purpose  :  "  That  there  was  no  tempest 
so  boisterous  as  the  resentment  of  an  angry  prince ;  that 

*  When  Essex  was  no  more  than  cellor,  supported  by  that  of  archbishop 

twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  com-  Whitgift,  carried   the  election  against 

petitor  with  the  lord  chancellor  Hatton  him.      He    was  again   disappointed  iu 

for -he  chancellorship  of  the  university  a   similar  attempt,  which   he  made  at 

of  Oxford,  which  had   become  vacant  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1591,  upon 

by  the  Heath   of  the  earl  of  Leicester,  the  death  of  sir   Christopher  Hatton. 

pn  thtr  4th  of  September,  1588.     Into  On  this  occasion,    a   majority  of   the 

this    university    our    young    earl    had  electors    would   have   declared    in   his 

l»een  incorporated  master  of  arts  in  the  favour,  had  they  not  been  influenced  by 

preceding  April.     He  did  not  succeed  the  authority  of  the  queen,  who  recom- 

in   the   contest ;    for   being    generally  mended   by  letters  Thomas  Sackville, 

considered  as  a  patron  of  the  puritan  lord  Buckhurst,  and  he  was  accordingly 

parly,    as   his   deceased   father-in-law  chosen, 
had  been,  the  interest  of  the  lord  chan- 


DEVEREUX. 


the  queen  was  of  a  flinty  temper  ;  that  he  well  enough  knew 
what  was  due  from  him  as  a  subject,  an  earl,  and  grand 
marshal  of  England,  but  did  not  understand  the  office  of  a 
drudge  or  a  porter  ;  that  to  own  himself  a  criminal  was  to 
injure  truth,  and  the  author  of  it,  God  Almighty  :  that  his 
body  suffered  in  every  part  of  it  by  that  blow  given  by  his 
prince ;  and  that  it  would  be  a  crime  in  him  to  serve  a 
queen  who  had  given  him  so  great  an  affront."  He  was 
afterwards  reconciled  and  restored  in  appearance  to  the 
queen's  favour,  yet  there  is  good  reason  to  doubt  whether 
he  ever  recovered  it  in  reality  :  and  his  friends  have  ge- 
nerally dated  his  ruin  from  this  singular  dispute  *. 

The  ear)  met  with  nothing  in  Ireland  but  disappoint- 
ments, in  the  midst  of  which,  an  army  was  suddenly  raised 
in  England,  under  the  command  of  the  earl  of  Nottingham  ; 
nobody  well  knowing  why,  but  in  reality  from  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  earl's  enemies  to  the  queen,  that  he  rather  me- 
ditated an  invasion  on  his  native  country,  than  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  Irish  rebels.  This  and  other  considerations 
made  him  resolve  to  quit  his  post,  and  come  over  to  Eng- 


*  The  total  reduction  of  Ireland  be- 
ing brought  upou  the  tapis  soon  after, 
the  earl  was  pitched  upon  as  the  only 
man  from  whom  it  could  be  expected  ; 
an  artful  contrivance  of  his  enemies, 
who  hoped  by  this  means  to  ruin  himj 
nor  were  their  expectations  disappoint- 
ed, lie  declined  this  fatal  preferment 
as  long  as  he  could  ;  but,  perceiving 
that  he  should  have 'no  quiet  at  home, 
be  accepted  it,  and  his  commission  for 
loid  lieutenant  passed  the  great  seal  in 
March  15P8.  His  enemies  now  began 
to  insinuate,  that  he  had  sought  this 
command  for  the  sake  of  greater  things 
which  he  then  was  meditating;  but 
there  is  a  letter  of  his  to  the  queen, 
preserved  in  the  Harleian  collection, 
which  shews,  that  he  was  so  far  from 
entering  upon  it  with  alacrity,  that  he 
looked  upon  it  rather  as  a  banishment, 
and  a  place  assigned  him  for  a  retreat 
from  his  sovereign's  displeasure,  than  a 
potent  government  bestowed  upon  him 
by  her  favour:  "  To  the  queen.  From 
a  mind  delighting  in  sorrow,  from  spi- 
rits wasted  with  passion,  from  a  heart 
torn  in  pieces  with  care,  grief,  and 
travel,  from  a  man  that  hateth  him- 
self, and  all  things  else  that  keep  him 
alive,  what  service  can  your  majesty 
expect,  since  any  service  past  deserves 


no  more  than  banishment  and  pro- 
scription to  the  cursedest  of  all  is-lnnds? 
It  is  your  rebels'  pride  and  succession 
must  give  me  leave  to  ransom  myself 
out  of  this  hateful  prison,  out  of  my 
loathed  body  ;  which,  if  it  happened 
so,  your  majesty  shall  have  no  cause 
to  mislike  the  fashion  of  my  death, 
since  the  course  of  my  life  could  never 
please  you. 

'•'  Happy  he  could  finish  forth  his  fate, 
In  some  unhaunted  desert  most  obscure 

From  all  society,  from  love  and  hate 
Of  worldly  folk ;  then  should  he  sleep 
secure. 

Then   wake  again,    and  yield  God 

ever  praise. 
Content   with   hips,    and   hawes,    and 

bramble-berry  ; 
In    contemplation    passing   out   his 

days, 

And  change  of  holy  thoughts  to  make 
him  merry. 

Who  when  he  dies,  his  tomb  may  be 

a  bush, 
Where  harmless   robin  dwells   wilh 

gentle  thrush. 

Your  majesty's  exiled  servant, 
ROBERT  ESSES-." 


DEVEREUX.  17 

land ;  which  he  accordingly  did,  and  presented  himself 
before  the  queen.  He  met  with  a  tolerable  reception  ; 
but  was  soon  after  confined,  examined,  and  dismissed  from 
all  his  offices,  except  that  of  master  of  the  horse.  In  the 
summer  of"  1600,  he  recovered  his  liberty;  and  in  the 
autumn  following,  he  received  Mr.  Cuffe,  who  had  been 
his  secretary  in  Ireland  (See  CUFFE),  into  his  councils. 
Cuffe,  who  was  a  man  of  his  own  disposition,  laboured  to 
persuade  him,  that  submission  would  never  do  him  any 
good  ;  that  the  queen  was  in  the  hands  of  a  faction,  who 
were  his  enemies  ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  restore  his 
fortune  was  to  obtain  an  audience,  by  whatever  means  he 
could,  in  order  to  represent  his  case.  The  earl  did  not 
consent  at  first  to  this  dangerous  advice;  but  afterwards, 
giving  a  loose  to  his  passion,  began  to  declare  himself 
openly,  and  among  other  fatal  expressions  let  fall  this, 
that  "  the  queen  grew  old  and  cankered  ;  and  that  her 
mind  was  become  as  crooked  as  her  carcase."  His  ene- 
mies, who  had  exact  intelligence  of  all  that  he  proposed, 
and  had  provided  effectually  against  the  execution  of  his 
designs,  hurried  him  upon  his  fate  by  a  message,  sent  on 
the  evening  of  Feb.  7,  requiring  him  to  attend  the  council, 
which  he  declined.  This  appears  to  have  unmanned  him, 
and  in  his  distraction  of  mind,  he  gave  out,  that  they  sought 
his  life  ;  kept  a  watch  in  Essex-house  all  night;  and  sum- 
moned his  friends  for  his  defence  the  next  morning.  Many 
disputes  ensued,  and  some  blood  was  spilt ;  but  the  earl 
at  last  surrendered,  and  was  carried  that  night  to  the  arch- 
bishop's palace  at  Lambeth,  and  the  next  day  to  the 
Tower.  On  the  19th,  he  was  arraigned  before  his  peers, 
and  after  a  long  trial  was  sentenced  to  lose  his  head  :  upon 
which  melancholy  occasion  he  said  nothing  more  than  this, 
viz.  "  If  her  majesty  had  pleased,  this  body  of  mine  might 
have  done  her  better  service  ;  however,  I  shall  be  glad  if  it 
may  prove  serviceable  to  her  any  way."  He  was  executed 
upon  the  25th,  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  leaving  behind 
him  one  only  son  and  two  daughters.  As  to  his  person,  he 
is  reported  to  have  been  tall,  but  not  very  well  made;  his 
countenance  reserved  ;  his  air  rather  martial  than  courtly  ; 
very  careless  in  dress,  and  a  little  addicted  to  trifling  di- 
versions, He  was  learned,  and  a  lover  of  learned  men, 
whom  he  always  encouraged  and  rewarded.  He  was  sin- 
cere in  his  friendships,  but  not  so  careful  as  he  ought  to 
have  been  in  making  a  right  choice  ;  sound  in  h\s  morals, 
VOL.  XII.  C 


18  D  E  V  E  R  E  U  X. 

except  in  point  of  gallantry,  and  thoroughly  well  affected 
to  the  protestant  religion.     Historians  inform  us,   that  as 
„  to  his  execution,  the  queen  remained  irresolute  to  the  very 
.last,  and   sent  sir  Edward  Carey  to  countermand  it ;  but, 
as  Camden   says,  considering   afterwards    his  obstinacy  in 
refusing  to  ask  her  pardon,  she  countermanded  those  or- 
ders, and  directed  that  he  should  die.     There  is  an  odd 
story   current  in  the  world   about  a  ring,  which  the  che- 
valier Louis  Aubrey  de  Mourier,  many   years  the  French 
minister  in  Holland,  and  a  man  of  great  parts  and  unsus- 
pected credit,  delivers  as  an  undoubted   truth  ;  and  that 
upon  the  authority  of  an  English  minister,  who  might  be 
well  presumed  to  know  what  he  said.     As   the   incident  is 
remarkable,  and   has  made  much  noise,  we  will  report  it 
in  the  words  of  that  historian  :    "  It  will  not,    I  believe,   be 
thought  either  impertinent  or  disagreeable   to  add  here, 
what  prince  Maurice  had  from  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Carleton, 
ambassador  of  England  in  Holland,  who  died  secretary  of 
state  ;  so  well  known  under  the  name  of  lord  Dorchester, 
a«d  who  was  a  man  of  great  merit.     He  said,  that  queen 
Elizabeth  gave  the  earl  of  Essex   a  ring,  in  the  height  of 
her  passion   for   him,  ordering  him   to  keep  it ;  and  that 
whatever  he  should   commit,  she  would  pardon  him  when 
he  should   return  that  pledge.      Since  that  time  the  earl's 
enemies  having  prevailed  with  the  queen,  who,   besides, 
was   exasperated   against  him   for  the  contempt  he  had 
shewed  her  beauty,   now  through  age  upon  the  decay,  she 
caused  him  to  be  impeached.     When  he  was  condemned, 
she  expected  to  receive  from  him  the  ring,  and  would  have 
granted  him   his  pardon  according  to  her  promise.     The 
earl,  finding  himself  in  the  last  extremity,  applied  to  ad- 
miral   Howard's  lady,  who   was  his  relation  ;  and  desired 
her,  by  a  person  she  could  trust,  to  deliver  the  ring  into 
the  queen's  own  hands.     But  her  husband,  who  was  one  of 
the  earl's  greatest  enemies,  and  to  whom  she  told  this  im- 
prudently, would  not  suffer  her  to  acquit  herself  of  the 
commission  ;  so  that  the   queen    consented  to    the  earl's 
death,    being   full   of  indignation   against   so   proud  and 
haughty  a  spirit,  who  chose  rather  to  die  than  implore  her 
mercy.     Some   time    after,  the   admiral's   lady  fell  sick  ; 
and,  being  given  over  by  her  physicians,  she  sent  word  to 
the  queen  that  she  had  something  of  great  consequence  to 
tell  her  before  she  died.     The  queen   came   to  her   bed- 
Bide  i  and  having  ordered  all  her  attendants  to  withdraw, 


DEVEREUX.  19 

the  admiral's  lady  returned  her,  but  too  late,  that  ring 
from  the  earl  of  Essex,  desiring  to  be  excused  for  not 
having  returned  it  sooner,  since  her  husband  had  pre- 
vented her.  The  queen  retired  immediately,  overwhelmed 
with  the  utmost  grief;  she  sighed  continually  for  a  fort- 
night, without  taking  any  nourishment,  lying  in  bed  en- 
tirely dressed,  and  getting  up  an  hundred  times  a  night. 
At  last  she  died  with  hunger  and  with  grief,  because  she 
had  consented  to  the  death  of  a  lover  who  had  applied  to 
her  for  mercy."  Histoire  de  Hollancle,  p.  215,  216. 

This  account  has  commonly  been  treated  as  a  fable ; 
but  late  discoveries  seem  to  have  confirmed  it.  See  the 
proofs  of  this  remarkable  fact,  collected  in  Birch's  Nego- 
ciations,  &c.  p.  206,  and  Hume's  History,  at  the  end  of 
Elizabeth's  reign. 

Lord  Orford  has  entered  into  a  long  disquisition  on  the 
proofs  of  queen  Elizabeth's  love  for  the  earl  of  Essex,  and 
certainly  proves  that  she  had  a  more  than  ordinary  attach- 
ment to  him,  although  in  some  of  the  circumstances  it  ap» 
pears  to  savour  more  of  the  fondness  of  a  capricious  mo- 
ther, than  of  a  mistress.  His  lordship  has  done  wiser  in 
having  placed  the  earl  of  Essex  among  the  noble  authors  of 
England.  The  various  pieces  enumerated  by  lord  Orford 
justly  entitle  him  to  that  distinction;  and  he  has  a  farther 
claim  to  it  from  the  numerous  letters  of  his  which  occur  in 
the  different  collections  of  state  papers,  and  especially  in 
Birch's  "Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of  queen  Elizabeth."  "  But 
of  all  his  compositions,"  says  Mr.  Walpole,  "  the  most  ex- 
cellent, arid  in  many  respects  equal  to  the  performances 
of  the  greatest  geniuses,  is  a  long  letter  to  the  queen 
from  Ireland,  stating  the  situation  of  that  country  in  a 
most  masterly  manner,  both  as  a  general  and  statesman, 
and  concluding  with  strains  of  the  tenderest  eloquence,  on 
finding  himself  so  unhappily  exposed  to  the  artifice  of  his 
enemies  during  his  absence.  It  cannot  fail  to  excite  ad- 
miration, that  a  man  ravished  from  all  improvement  and 
reflection  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  to  be  nursed,  perverted, 
fondled,  dazzled  in  a  court,  should,  notwithstanding,  have 
snatched  such  opportunities  of  cultivating  his  mind  and 
understanding  :''  In  another  letter  from  Ireland,  he  say» 
movingly,  "  1  provided  for  this  service  a  breast-plate,  but 
not  a  cuirass  ;  that  is,  I  am  armed  on  the  breast,  but  not 
On  the  back." 

It  has  been  surmised  that  the  earl  of  Essex  used  the  pen, 

e  2 


20  DEVEREUX. 

first,  of  Francis  Bacon,  and  afterwards  of  Cuffe.  Speak- 
ing of  Bacon,  Dr.  Birch  observes,  that  it  is  certain  that 
Essex  did  not  want  any  such  assistance,  and  could  not 
have  had  it  upon  many  and  most  important  occasions, 
which  required  him  to  write' some  of  the  most  finished  of 
his  epistolary  performances,  the  style  of  which  is  not  only 
very  different  from,  but  likewise  much  more  natural,  easy, 
and  perspicuous  than  that  of  his  friend,  who  acknowledges 
it  to  be  "  far  better  than  his  own."  With  regard  to  Cuffe, 
Mr.  Walpole  remarks,  that  he  might  have  some  hand  in 
collecting  the  materials  relative  to  business,  but  that  there 
runs  through  all  the  earl's  letters  a  peculiarity  of  style,  so 
adapted  to  his  situation  and  feelings,  as  could  not  have 
been  felt  for  him  or  dictated  by  any  body  else. 

It  was  as  a  prose-writer  that  the  earl  of  Essex  excelled, 
and  not  as  a  poet.  He  is  said  to  have  translated  one  of  Ovid's 
Epistles;  and  a  few  of  his  sonnets  are  preserved  in  the 
Ashmolean   museum.     They  display,   however,  no    marks 
of  poetic  genius.     "  But  if  Essex,"  says  Mr.  Warton,  "  was 
no  poet,  few  noblemen  of  his  age  were  more  courted  by 
poets.     From  Spenser  to  the  lowest  rhymer  he  was  the  sub- 
ject of  numerous  sonnets,  or  popular  ballads.     I   will  not 
except  Sydney.     I  could  produce  evidence   to  prove,  that 
he  scarcely  ever  went  out  of  England,  or  even  left  London, 
on  the  most  frivolous  enterprize,  without  a  pastoral  in  his 
praise,  or  a  panegyric  in  metre,  which  were  sold  and  sung 
in  the  streets.  Having  interested  himself  in  the  fashionable 
poetry  of  the   times,  he   was  placed  high  in  the  ideal  Ar- 
cadia now  just  established  ;  and,  among  other  instances 
which  might  be  brought,  on  his  return  from  Portugal  in 
1589  he  was  complimented  with  a  poem  called  "An  Egloge 
gratulatorie  entituled  to  the  right  honorable  and  renowned 
shepherd  of  Albion's  Arcadia,   Robert  earl   of  Essex,  and 
for  his  returne  lately  into  England."     This  is   a  light  in 
which  lord   Essex  is  seldom  viewed.     I  know  not  if  the 
queen's   fatal  partiality,  or  his  own   inherent  attractions, 
his  love  of  literature,  his  heroism,  integrity,  and  genero- 
sity, qualities  which  abundantly  overbalance  his  presump- 
tion, his  vanity,  and  impetuosity,  had    the   greater   share 
in  dictating  these   praises.     If  adulation  were  any  where 
justifiable,  it  must  be   when  paid  to  the  man  who  endea- 
voured  to  save   Spenser  from   starving   in   the   streets  of 
Dublin,  and  who  buried  him  in  Westminster-abbey  with 


DEVEREUX.  21 

becoming  solemnity.  Spenser  was  persecuted  by  Burleigh 
because  he  was  patronised  by  Essex." 

No  small  degree  of  popularity  has  always  adhered  to  the 
character  and  memory  of  the  earl  of  Essex.  A  strong 
proof  of  this  is  his  having  been  the  subject  of  four  different 
tragedies.  We  refer  to  the  "  Unhappy  favourite,"  by 
John  Banks ;  the  "  Fall  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,"  by  James 
Ralph ;  the  "  Earl  of  Essex,"  by  Henry  Jones ;  and  the 
"  Earl  of  Essex,"  by  Henry  Brooke. ' 

DEVEREUX  (ROBERT),  son  to  the  former,  and  third 
earl  of  Essex,  was  born  in  1592,  at  Essex-house,  in  the 
Strand  ;  and  at  the  time  of  his  father's  unhappy  death, 
was  under  the  care  of  his  grandmother,  by  whom  he  was  sent 
to  Eton  school,  where  he  was  first  educated.  In  the  month 
of  January  1602,  he  was  entered  a  gentleman-commoner 
of  Merton- college,  Oxford,  where  he  had  an  apartment 
in  the  warden's  lodgings,  then  Mr.  Savile,  afterwards  the 
celebrated  sir  Henry  Savile,  his  father's  dear  friend,  and 
who,  for  his  sake,  was  exceedingly  careful  in  seeing  that 
he  was  learnedly  and  religiously  educated.  The  year  fol- 
lowing, he  was  restored  to  his  hereditary  honours ;  and  in 
1605,  when  king  James  visited  the  university  of  Oxford, 
our  young  earl  of  Essex  was  created  M.  A.  on  the  30th  of 
August,  for  the  first  tirne,  which  very  probably  he  had 
forgotten,  or  he  would  not  have  received  the  same  honour 
above  thirty  years  afterwards.  He  was  already  in  posses- 
sion of  his  father's  high  spirit,  of  which  he  gave  a  suffi- 
cient indication  in  a  quarrel  which  he  had  with  prince 
Henry.  Some  dispute  arose  between  them  at  a  game  at 
tennis  ;  the  prince  called  his  companion  the  son  of  a  trai- 
tor; who  retaliated  by  giving  him  a  severe  blow  with  his 
racket ;  and  the  king  was  obliged  to  interfere  to  restore 
peace.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  betrothed  to  lady 
Frances  Howard,  who  was  still  younger  than  himself;  but 
he  immediately  set  out  on  his  travels,  and  during  his  ab- 
sence the  affections  of  his  young  wife  were  estranged  from 
him,  and  fixed  upon  the  king's  favourite,  Carr,  afterwards 
earl  of  Somerset.  The  consequence  was  a  suit  instituted 
against  the  husband  for  impotency,  in  which,  to  the  dis- 
grace of  the  age,  the  king  interfered,  and  which  ended  in 

1  Biog1.  Brit. — Birch's  Memoirs  of  queen  Elizabeth. — Hume's  and  other 
histories  of  England. —  Mark's  edition  of  the  Royal  and  Noble  Authors. — Seward's 
Anecdotes  and  Biographiana. — Ellis's  Specimens,  &c. 

• 


22  DEVEREUX. 

a  divorce.  The  earl  of  Essex,  feeling  himself  disgraced 
by  the  sentence,  retired  to  his  country  seat,  and  spent 
some  years  in  rural  sports  and  amusements.  In  1£20,  being 
wearied  of  a  state  of  inaction,  he  joined  the  earl  of  Ox- 
ford in  a  military  expedition  to  the  Palatinate,  where  they 
served  with  companies  of  their  own  raising,  under  sir  Ho- 
ratio Vere,  and  in  the  following  year  they  served  in  Hol- 
land, under  prince  Maurice,  In  the  course  of  the  winter 
they  returned  to  England,  and  lord  Essex  appeared  in  the 
ranks  of  the  opposition  in  parliament.  On  this  account  he 
was  not  favourably  received  at  court,  which  was  the  mean 
of  attaching  him  the  more  closely  to  foreign  service.  He 
commanded  a  regiment  raised  in  England  for  the  United 
States  in  1624,  and  though  nothing  very  important  was 
atchieved  by  the  English  auxiliaries,  yet  he  acquired  ex- 
perience, and  distinguished  himself  among  the  nobility  of 
the  time.  On  the  accession  of  Charles  I.  he  was  employed 
as  vice-admiral  in  an  expedition  against  Spain,  which  proved 
unsuccessful.  In  1626,  he  made  another  campaign  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  shortly  after  he  formed  another  un- 
happy match,  by  marrying  the  daughter  of  sir  William 
Paulet,  from  whom,  owing  to  her  misconduct,  he  was  di- 
vorced within  two  years.  He  now  resolved  to  give  him- 
self up  entirely  to  public  life  ;  he  courted  popularity,  and 
made  friends  among  the  officers  of  the  army  and  the  pu- 
ritan ministers.  He  was,  however,  employed  by  the  king 
in  various  important  services;  but  when  the  king  and  court 
left  the  metropolis,  lord  Essex  pleaded  in  excuse  his  obli- 
gation to  attend  in  his  place  as  a  peer  of  the  realm,  and  was 
accordingly  deprived  of  all  his  employments  ;  a  step  which 
alone  seemed  wanting  to  fix  him  in  opposition  to  the  king; 
and  in  July  1642  he  accepted  the  post  of  general  of  the 
parliamentary  army.  He  opposed  the  king  in  person  at 
Edge-hill,  where  the  victory  was  so  indecisive,  that  each 
party  claimed  it  as  his  own.  After  this  he  was  successful 
in  some  few  instances,  but  in  other  important  trusts  he  did 
little  to  recommend  him  to  the  persons  in  whose  interests 
he  was  employed.  He  was,  however,  treated  with  ex- 
ternal respect,  until  the  self-denying  ordinance  threw  him 
entirely  out  of  the  command  :  he  resigned  his  commission, 
but  not  without  visible  marks  of  discontent.  Unwilling  to 
lose  him  altogether,  the  parliament  voted  that  he  should 
be  raised  to  a  dukedom,  and  be  allowed  10,000/.  per  an- 
num, to  support  his  new  dignity  j  but  these  were 


DEVEREUX.  23 

vented  by  a  sudden  death,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  his 
grandfather,  was  by  some  attributed  to  unfair  means.     He 
died  September    14,    1646.     Parliament  directed  a  pub- 
lic   funeral    for  him,    which    was    performed    with    great 
solemnity  in   the  following  month,  at  Westminster  abbey. 
In  his  conduct,  the  particulars  of  which  may  be  seen   in 
the  history  of  the  times,  a  want  of  steadiness  is  to  be  dis- 
covered, which  candour  would  refer  to  the  extraordinary 
circumstances  in   which  public    men    were   then    placed. 
Personal  affronts  at  court,   whether  provoked   or  not,  led 
him  to  go  a  certain  length  with  those  who,  he  did  not  per- 
ceive, wanted  to  go  much  farther,  and  although   he  ap- 
peared in  arms  against  his  sovereign,  no  party  was  pleased 
with  his  efforts  to  preserve   a  balance  ;  yet,  with   all  his 
er/ors,  Hume  and  other  historians,  not  friendly  to  the  re- 
publican  cause,    have   considered   his   death   as  a   public 
misfortune.      Hume  says,  that  fully  sensible  of  the  excesses 
to  which  affairs  had  been  carried,  and  of  the  worse  conse- 
quences which  were  still  to  be  apprehended,  he  had  re- 
solved to  conciliate  a  peace,  and  to  remedy  as  far  as  pos- 
sible all  those  ills  to  which,  from  mistake  rather  than  any 
bad  intention,  he  had  himself  so  much  contributed.     The 
presbyterian,   or  the  moderate  party  among  the  commons, 
found  themselves  considerably  weakened  by  his  death;  and 
the  small  remains  of  authority  which  still  adhered  to  the 
house  of  peers,  were  in  a  manner  wholly  extinguished. l 

DE  VEHGY  (PETER  HENRY  TREYSSAC),  a  French 
adventurer,  of  whose  private  life  little  is  known,  and 
whose  public  history  is  not  of  the  most  reputable  kind,  re- 
quires, however,  some  notice,  as  the  author  of  various 
publications,  and  an  agent  in  some  political  transactions 
which  once  were  deemed  of  importance.  He  styled  himself 
advocate  in  the  parliament  of  Bourdeaux.  The  first  notice 
of  him  occurs  about  1763,  when  he  had  a  concern  in  the 
quarrel  between  the  count  de  Guerchy,  ambassador  extra- 
ordinary from  the  court  of  France,  and  the  chevalier 
D'Eon,  (see  D'EoN).  About  this  time  D'Eon  published  a 
letter  to  the  count  de  Guerchy,  by  which  we  learn  that 
De  Vergy  solicited  his  (D'Eon's)  acquaintance,  which  he 
declined  unless  he*  brought  letters  of  recommendation, 
and  that  De  Vergy,  piqued  at  the  refusal,  boasted  of  being 
perfectly  well  known  to  the  count  de  Guerchy,  which 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Clarendon's  History. — Hume,  &c. 


24  D  E     V  E  R  G  Y. 

proved  to  be  a  falsehood.  This  produced  a  quarrel  be- 
tween D'Eon  and  De  Vergy,  and  a  pamphlet  in  answer 
to  D'Eon's  letter,  and  another  answer  under  the  title  of 
"  Centre  Note."  After  the  more  celebrated  quarrel  be- 
tween de  Guerchy  and  D'Eon,  De  Vergy  published  a 
parcel  of  letters  from  himself  to  the  due  de  Cboiseul,  in 
which  he  positively  asserts  that  the  count  de  Guerchy  pre- 
vailed with  him  to  come  over  to  England  to  assassinate 
D'Eon.  He  even  went  farther,  and  before  the  grand 
jury  of  Middlesex,  made  oath  to  the  same  effect.  Upon 
this  deposition,  the  grand  jury  found  a  bill  of  intended 
murder  against  the  count  de  Guerchy;  which  bill,  how- 
ever, never  came  to  the  petty  jury.  The  king  granted 
a  noli  prosequi  in  favour  of  De  Guerchy,  and  the  at- 
torney-general was  ordered  to  prosecute  De  Vergy,  with 
the  result  of  which  order  we  are  unacquainted  ;  but  it 
is  certain  that  De  Vergy,  in  his  last  will,  confesses  his 
concern  in  a  plot  against  D'Eon,  and  intimates  that  he 
withdrew  his  assistance  upon  finding  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  affect  the  chevalier's  life.  After  the  above 
transaction,  we  find  him  in  1767,  publishing  "  Lettre 
centre  la  Raison,"  or,  "  A  Letter  against  Reason,  ad- 
dressed to  the  chevalier  D'Eon,"  in  which  he  repeats  some 
of  the  hacknied  doctrines  of  the  French  philosophical 
school,  and  professes  himself  a  free-thinker.  This  was 
followed  by  a  succession  of  novels,  entitled  "  The  Mistakes 
of  the  Heart;"  "  The  Lovers  ;"  "  Nature  ;"  "  Henriet- 
ta;" "The  Scotchman;"  and  "The  Palinode,"  written 
in  remarkably  good  English,  and  with  much  knowledge  of 
human  nature;  but  scarcely  one  of  them  is  free  from  the 
grossest  indelicacies.  He  wrote  also,  in  1770,  "  A  De- 
fence of  the  duke  of  Cumberland,"  a  wretched  catchpenny. 
De  Vergy  died  Oct.  J,  1774,  aged  only  forty-two,  and 
remained  unburied  until  March,  his  executor  waiting  for 
directions  from  his  family.  He  had  desired  in  his  will  that 
his  relations  would  remove  his  body  to  Bourdeaux,  but  it 
was  at  last  interred  in  St.  Pancras  church-yard.1 

DEUSINGIUS  (ANTHONY),  a  learned  physician,  and 
voluminous  writer  on  medicine  and  natural  philosophy,  was 
born  at  Meurs,  in  the  duchy  of  Juliers,  October  16th, 
4612.  After  studying  the  classics  and  the  Arabic  and 

'  Ly%ons's  Environs,  vol.  III. — Gent.  Ma^.  XLIV.  where  is  part  of  his  will. — 
Chesterfield's  Letters,  vol.  II.  j>.  -iSo,  4tt>  edit. 


D  E  U  S  I  N  G  I  U  S.  25 

Persian  languages,  lie  went  to  Leyden,  where  he  com- 
pleted his  education  by  taking  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in 
1634;  and  three  years  after  was  appointed  professor  in 
mathematics  at  Meurs.  In  1639,  he  was  called  to  succeed 
Jsaac  Pontanus  in  ttie  chair  of  natural  philosophy  and  ma- 
thematics; and  in  1642  to  that  of  medicine,  at  Hardenvick, 
to  which  was  added  the  office  of  physician  to  the  city. 
From  Harderwick  he  went  to  Groningen,  where  he  was  not 
only  professor  of  medicine,  but  rector  of  the  university, 
and  ancient  of  the  church.  Amid  the  business  which  such 
accumulated  duties  heaped  upon  him,  he  found  leisure  to 
write  a  greater  number  of  treatises  on  the  different  parts  of 
medicine  and  philosophy  than  have  fallen  from  the  pen. 
of  almost  any  other  man.  Haller  and  Manget  have  given 
a  list  of  fifty-four,  but  a  small  number  of  these  are  on  prac- 
tical subjects,  many  of  them  being  metaphysical  and 
controversial.  Those  relating  to  his  controversy  with  Sil- 
vius,  are  written  with  great  acrimony;  though  the  sub- 
jects, which  are  mostly  physiological,  do  not  seem  calcu- 
lated to  excite  so  much  rancour  as  we  see  infused  into 
them.  Among  these  are,  "  Joannes  Cloppenburgius, 
Heautontimorumenos,  seu  retorsio  injuriarum  de  libello 
falsidico,  cui  titulus,  Res  judicata,  cumulatarum,"  1643, 
4to.  The  subject  of  dispute  is  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and 
on  the  intelligences  that  direct  the  course  of  the  stars. 

O 

"  Canticum  Avicennas  de  Medicina,  ex  Arab.  Lat.  reddit.'* 
1649,  4to.  "  Dissertationes  duae,  prior  de  motu  cordis 
et  sanguinis,  altera  de  lacte  ac  nutrimento  foetus  in  utero," 
1651,  4to.-  In  this  he  defends  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
as  described  by  our  countryman  Harvey.  "  Synopsis  Me- 
dicine universali?,"  1649,  &c.  Deusingius  died  in  the 
winter  of  1666,  of  a  pleuritic  affection,  occasioned  by 
taking  a  long  journey,  in  very  severe  weather,  to  visit  the 
count  of  Nassau,  to  whom  he  was  physician.  * 

DEWAILLY  (CHARLES),  an  eminent  French  architect, 
was  born  at  Paris,  Nov.  9,  1729.  He  was  educated  by  one 
of  his  uncles,  and  from  his  earliest  infancy  discovered  an. 
unconquerable  partiality  for  the  study  and  practice  of  ar- 
chitecture, in  which  he  afterwards  became  a  great  pro- 
ficient. His  chief  master  was  Lejay,  who  at  this  period 
had  just  established  a  new  school  of  the  profession,  and 

1  Moreri. — Haller  and  Manget. — Rees's  Cyclopaedia. — Foppen  Bibl.  Belg. — 
Nieeron,  vol.  XXil. 


16  D  E  W  A  I  L  L  Y. 

recovered  it  from  the  contempt  in  which  it  had  been  held 
from  the  age  of  Lewis  XIV.  In  1752  Dewailly  obtained 
the  chief  architectural  prize,  and  the  privilege  of  studying 
at  Rome  for  three  years,  at  the  expence  of  the  nation. 
Upon  this  success,  his  biographer  notices  an  action  truly 
generous  and  laudable  in  the  mind  of  an  emulous  young 
man.  The  student  to  whom  the  second  prize  was  decreed, 
and  whose  name  was  Moreau,  appeared  extremely  sorrow- 
ful. Dewailly  interrogated  him  upon  the  subject  of  his 
chagrin  ;  and  learning  that  it  proceeded  from  his  having 
lost  the  opportunity  of  prosecuting  his  profession  in  Italy, 
he  flew  to  the  president  of  the  architectural  committee,  and 
earnestly  solicited  permission  that  his  unfortunate  rival 
might  be  allowed  to  travel  to  Rome  as  well  as  himself.  On 
an  objection  being  adduced  from  the  established  rules  — 
"  Well,  well,"  replied  he,  "  I  yet  know  a  mode  of  recon- 
ciling every  thing.  1  am  myself  allotted  three  years  ;  of 
these  I  can  dispose  as  I  like — I  give  eighteen  months  of 

I  O  O 

them  to  Moreau.*'  This  generous  sacrifice  was  accepted  ; 
and  Dewailly  was  amply  rewarded  by  the  public  esteem 
which  accompanied  the  transaction.  In  most  of  the  mo- 
dern buildings  of  taste  and  magnificence  in  his  own  country, 
Dewailly  was  a  party  employed,  and  many  of  his  designs 
are  engraven  in  the  Encyclopedic  and  in  Laborde's  De- 
scription of  France.  He  was  a  member  of  the  academy  of 
painting,  as  well  as  that  of  architecture  ;  in  the  latter  of 
which  he  was  at  once  admitted  into  the  higher  class,  with- 
out having,  as  is  customary,  passed  through  the  inferior. 
Of  the  national  institute  he  was  a  member  from  its  es- 
tablishment. He  died  in  1799,  having  been  spared  the 
affliction  of  beholding  one  of  his  most  exquisite  pieces  of 
workmanship,  the  magnificent  hall  of  the  Odeon,  destroyed 
by  fire,  a  catastrophe  which  occurred  but  a  short  time  after 
his  demise.  * 

D'EWES  (Sir  SYMONDS),  an  English  historian  and  an- 
tiquary, was  the  son  of  Paul  D'Eues,  esq.  and  born  in 
1602,  at  Coxden  in  Dorsetshire,  the  seat  of  Richard  Sy- 
xnonds,  esq.  his  mother's  father.  He  was  descended  from 
an  ancient  family  in  the  Low  Countries,  from  whence  his 
ancestors  removed  hither,  and  gained  a  considerable  settle- 
ment in  the  county  of  Suffolk.  In  16 IS,  he  was  entered  a 
fellow- commoner  of  St.  John's  college  in  Cambridge  ;  and 

1  Memoirs  of  the  National  Institute. 


D'E  W  E  S.  27 

about  two  years  after,  began  to  collect  materials  for  form- 
ing a  correct  and  complete  history  of  Great  Britain.  He 
was  no  less  studious  in  preserving  the  history  of  his  own 
times  ;  setting  down  carefully  the  best  accounts  he  was 
able  to  obtain  of  every  memorable  transaction,  at  the  time 
it  happened.  This  disposition  in  a  young  man  of  parts 
recommended  him  to  the  acquaintance  of  persons  of  the 
first  rank  in  the  republic  of  letters,  such  as  Cotton,  Seldeiij 
Spelman,  &c.  In  1626,  he  married  Anne,  daughter  to  sir 
William  Clopton  of  Essex,  an  exquisite  beauty,  not  four- 
teen years  old,  with  whom  he  was  so  sincerely  captivated, 
that  his  passion  for  her  seems  to  have  increased  almost  to 
a  degree  of  extravagance,  even  after  she  was  his  wife.  He 
pursued  his  studies,  however,  as  usual,  with  great  vigour 
and  diligence,  and  when  little  more  than  thirty  years  of 
age,  finished  that  large  and  accurate  work  for  which  he  is 
chiefly  memorable.  This  work  he  kept  by  him  during  his 
life-time ;  it  being  written,  as  he  tells  us,  for  his  own  pri- 
vate use.  It  was  published  afterwards  with  this  title : 
"  The  Journals  of  all  the  Parliaments  during  the  reign  of 
queen  Elizabeth,  both  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  House 
of  Commons,  collected  by  sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  of  Stow- 
hall  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  knt.  and  bart.  revised  and 
published  by  Paul  Bowes,  of  the  Middle  Temple,  esq. 
1682,"  folio.  In  16:53,  he  resided  at  Islington  in  Middle- 
sex. In  1639,  he  served  the  office  of  high  sheriff  of  the 
county  of  Suffolk,  having  been  knighted  some  time  be- 
fore ;  and  in  the  long  parliament,  which  was  summoned 
to  meet  Nov.  3,  164-0,  he  was  elected  burgess  for  Sudbury 
in  that  county.  July  15,  1641,  he  was  created  a  baronet; 
yet  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  he  adhered  to 
the  parliament,  and  took  the  solemn  league  and  covenant 
in  1643.  He  sat  in  this  parliament  till  Dec.  1648,  when 
he  was  turned  out  among  those  who  were  thought  to  have 
some  regard  left  for  the  person  of  the  king,  and  the  old 
constitution  in  church  and  state.  He  died  April  18,  1650, 
and  was  succeeded  in  his  titles  and  large  estate  by  his  son 
Willoughby  D'Ewes;  to  whom  the  above  Journals  were 
dedicated,  when  published,  by  his  cousin  Paul  Bowes, 
esq.  who  was  himself  a  gentleman  of  worth  and  learning. 

Though  these  labours  of  sir  Symonds  contributed  not  a 
little  to  illustrate  the  general  history  of  Great  Britain,  as 
well  as  to  explain  the  important  transactions  of  one  of  the 
most  glorious  reigns  in  it,  yet  two  or  three  circumstances 


28  D  '  E  W  E  S. 

of  his  life  have  occasioned  him  to  have  been  set  by  writers 
in  perhaps  a  more  disadvantageous  light  than  he  deserved  ; 
not  to  mention  that  general  one,  common  to  many  others, 
of  adhering  to  the  parliament  during  the  rebellion.  Hav- 
ing occasion  to  write  to  archbishop  Usher  in  1639,  he  un- 
fortunately let  fall  a  hint  to  the  prejudice  of  Camden's 
*'  Britannia  ;"  for,  speaking  of  the  time  and  pains  he  had 
spent  in  collecting  materials  for  an  accurate  history  of 
Great  Britain,  and  of  his  being  principally  moved  to  this 
task,  by  observing  the  many  mistakes  of  the  common 
writers,  he  adds,  "  And  indeed  what  can  be  expected  from 
them,  considering  that,  even  in  the  so  much  admired 
'  Britannia'  of  Camden  himself,  there  is  not  a  page,  at 
least  hardly  a  page,  without  errors  r"  This  letter  of  his 
afterwards  coming  to  light,  among  other  epistles  to  that 
learned  prelate,  drew  upon  him  the  heaviest  censures. 
Smith,  the  writer  of  the  Latin  life  of  Camden,  assures  us, 
that  his  "  Britannia"  was  universally  approved  by  all 
proper  judges,  one  only,  sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  excepted  ; 
who,  "  moved,"  says  he,  "  by  I  know  not  what  spirit  of 
envy,  gave  out  that  there  was  scarce  a  page,"  &c.  Nicol- 
son,  in  his  account  of  Camden's  work,  says,  that  "  some 
early  attempts  were  made  by  an  envious  person,  one  Brook 
or  Brookmouth,  to  blast  the  deservedly  great  reputation  of 
this  work  :  but  they  perished  and  came  to  nothing;  as  did 
likewise  the  terrible  threats  given  out  by  sir  Symonds 
D'Ewes,  that  he  would  discover  errors  in  every  page." 
Bishop  Gibson  has  stated  the  charge  against  this  gentle- 
man more  mildly,  in  his  Life  of  Camden,  prefixed  to  the 
English  translation  of  his  Britannia.  "  In  the  year  1607," 
says  the  bishop,  "he  put  the  last  hand  to  his  Britannia, 
which  gained  him  the  titles  of  the  Varro,  Strabo,  and  Pau- 
sanias  of  Britain,  in  the  writings  and  letters  of  other 
learned  men.  Nor  did  it  ever  after  meet  with  any  enemies 
that  I  know  of,  only  sir  Symonds  D'Ewes  encouraged  us 
to  hope  for  animadversions  upon  the  work,  after  he  had 
observed  to  a  very  great  man,  that  there  was  not  a  page  in 
it  without  a  fault.  But  it  was  only  threatening  ;  and  nei- 
ther the  world  was  the  better,  nor  was  Mr.  Camden's  re- 
putation e'er  the  worse  for  it."  Sir  Symonds  was  certainly 
not  defensible  for  throwing  out  at  random,  as  it  should 
seem,  such  a  censure  against  a  work  universally  well  re- 
ceived, without  ever  attempting  to  support  it ;  yet  some 
have  excused  him  by  saying  that  this  censure  was  contained 


D'E  W  E  S.  29 

in  a  private  letter  ;  and  that  sir  Symonds  had  a  high  sense 
of  Camden's  merit,  whom  he  mentions  very  respectfully  in 
the  preface  to  his  Journals,  &c. 

Another  thing  which  hurt  his  character  with  some  par- 
ticular writers,  was  a  very  foolish  speech  he  made  in  the 
long  parliament,  Jan.  2,  1640,  in  support  of  the  antiquity 
of  the  university  of  Cambridge.  This  was  afterwards  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of  "  A  Speech  delivered  in  parlia- 
ment by  Symonds  D'Ewes,  touching  the  antiquity  of  Cam- 
bridge, 1642,"  4to,  and  exposed  him  to  very  severe  usage 
from  Wood,  Hearne,  &c.  as  it  still  must  to  the  contempt  of 
every  accurate  antiquary.  Other  writers,  however,  and 
such  as  cannot  be  at  all  suspected  of  partiality  to  him,  have 
spoken  much  to  his  honour.  Echard,  in  his  History  of 
England,  savs,  "  We  shall  next  mention  sir  Symonds 
D'Ewes,  a  gentleman  educated  at  the  university  of  Cam- 
bridge, celebrated  for  a  most  curious  antiquary,  highly  es- 
teemed by  the  great  Selden,  and  particularly  remarkable 
for  his  Journals  of  all  the  parliaments  in  queen  Elizabeth's 
reign,  and  for  his  admirable  MS  library  he  left  behind  him, 
now  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the  greatest  geniuses  of  the 
age:"  meaning  the  late  earl  of  Oxford.  Some  curious 
extracts  from  the  MS  journal  of  his  own  life  (preserved 
among  the  Harieian  MSS.)  are  printed  in  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Topographica  Britannica,  1783."  In  this  he  has  given  a 
minute  account  of  his  courtship  and  marriage.  The  only 
love-letter  he  had  occasion  to  send,  and  which  was  accom- 
panied with  a  present  of  a  diamond  carcanet,  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  Fairest, 

"  Blest  is  the  heart  and  hand  that  sincerely  sends  these 
meaner  lines,  if  another  heart  and  eye  gratiouslie  daigne 
to  pittie  the  wound  of  the  first,  and  the  numnes  of  the  lat- 
ter :  and  thus  may  this  other  poore  inclosed  carcanett,  if 
not  adorn  the  purer  neck,  yet  be  hidden  in  the  private 
cabinet  of  her,  whose  humble  sweetness  and  sweet  humi- 
lity deserve  the  justest  honour,  the  greatest  thankfulness. 
Nature  made  stones,  but  opinion  jewels;  this,  without 
your  milder  acceptance  and  opinion,  will  prove  neither 
stone  nor  jewel.  Do  but  enhappie  him  that  sent  it  in  the 
ordinary  use  of  it,  who  though  unworthie  in  himself,  yet 
resolves  to  continue  your  humblest  servant, 

««  SlMO.NDS 


30  D  '  E  W  E  S. 

That  sir  Symonds  D'Ewes's  judgment  and  taste  with 
regard  to  wit  were  as  contemptible  as  can  well  be  imagined, 
will  be  evident  from  the  following  passage,  taken  from  his 
account  of  Carr  earl  of  Somerset,  and  his  wife.  "  This 
discontent  gave  many  satyrical  wits  occasion  to  vent  them- 
selves into  stingie  libels,  in  which  they  spared  neither  the 
persons,  families,  nor  most  secret  avowtries  of  that  unfor- 
tunate paire.  There  came  alsoe  two  anagrams  to  my 
handes,  not  unworthie  to  be  owned  by  the  rarest  witts  of 
this  age,  though  the  first  be  resolved  into  somewhat  too 
broad  an  expression  for  soe  nobly  an  extracted  ladie  : 
Frances  Howard,  Thomas  Overburie, 

Car  finds  a  whore.  66  a  busi  murther." 

In  his  estimation  of  the  merit  of  historical  composition, 
sir  Symonds  displayed  a  far  superior  discernment.  He 
was  a  passionate  admirer  of  Thuanus's  History,  anxiously 
applied  to  the  younger  Thuanus,  to  obtain  copies  of  such 
parts  of  it  as  had  not  hitherto  been  published,  and  was  suc- 
cessful in  procuring  a  picture  of  that  great  author,  and  an- 
other of  the  famous  admiral  Coligni.  Several  of  his  MS 
collections  and  correspondence  are  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum. I 

DEWiT,  or  DE  WIT  (JAMES),  a  painter  of  history  and 
portrait,  was  born  at  Amsterdam  in  1695,  and  acquired 
the  principles  of  his  art  from  Albert  Spiers,  a  portrait 
painter.  He  afterwards  became  a  disciple  of  Jaques  Van 
Halen,  an  historical  painter  of  considerable  reputation  j 
under  whose  instructions  he  made  great  improvement, 
particularly  by  copying  some  capital  paintings  of  Rubens 
and  Vandyke.  In  1713,  he  obtained  the  first  prize  in  the 
academy,  for  designing  after  a  living  model,  and  the  first 
prize  for  painting  history  ;  and  he  became  more  known  by 
sketching  several  of  the  ceilings  in  the  Jesuits'  church  at 
Antwerp,  originally  painted  by  Rubens  and  Vandyke, 
which  had  been  much  injured  by  lightning.  He  declined 
the  painting  of  portraits,  though  much  solicited  to  engage 
in  this  branch  of  his  art,  and  chiefly  restricted  himself  to 
the  painting  of  ceilings  and  grand  apartments,  in  which  he 
excelled  by  an  elegance  of  taste,  and  tolerable  correctness 
of  design.  His  most  noted  work  was  for  the  burgo  masters 
of  Amsterdam,  in  their  great  council-chamber  j  in  which 

I  Biog.  Brit.  &c. 


D  E  W  I  T.  31 

he  chose  for  his  subject  Moses  appointing  the  70  elders, 
and  which  he  executed  in  a  manner  highly  honourable  to 
him  as  an   artist.     Without  ever  having  seen    Rome,  he 
acquired  the  style  of  the  Italian  masters,  by  studying  after 
the  finest  designs  of  the  best  artists  of  that  country,   which 
he  collected  with  great  judgment  and  expence.     The  co- 
louring of  Dewit  is  extremely  good,  and  his  compositions 
are  grand  and  pleasing ;  his  pencil  is  free,   and  his  touch 
abounds  with  spirit  and  brilliancy  ;  and  a  better  taste  of 
design  would  have  rendered  him  truly  eminent.     But  his 
singular  excellence  consisted  in  his  imitations  of  bas-relief 
in  stone,  wood,  or  plaster,  which  he  painted  both  in  oil 
and  in  fresco,  so  as  to  give  them  the  appearance  of  real 
carvings.     His  sketches,  though  slight,  are  much  admired 
for  their  freedom  and  spirit,  and  are  purchased  by  persons 
of  the  best  taste.     This  artist,  who  died  at  Amsterdam  in 
1754,  etched,  from  his  own  designs,    a  set  of  six  small 
plates,  representing  "  groupes  of  boys,"   which  are  exe- 
cuted in  a  very  spirited  style;  and  the  "  Virgin  and  Child."1 
DE  WITT  (JOHN),  the  famous  pensionary  of  Holland, 
was  the  second  son  of  Jacob   De  Witt,  burgomaster  of 
Dort,  and  deputy  to  the  states  of  Holland  ;  and  born  in 
1625.     He  was  educated  at   Dort,  and  made  so  great  a 
progress  in  his  studies,  that  at  twenty-three  he  published 
"  Elementa  Curvarum  Linearum  ;"  one  of  the  ablest  books 
in  mathematics  that  had  appeared  in  those  days.     After 
he  had  taken  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  he  travelled  for  some 
years;  and,  on  his  return  in   1650,  became  a  pensionary 
of  Dort,  and  distinguished  himself  early  in  the  manage- 
ment of  public  affairs.     He  opposed  with  all  his  power  the 
war  between  the  English  and  Dutch,  representing  in  strong 
colours  the  necessary  ill  consequences  of  it  to  the  republic  : 
and,  when  the  events  justified  his  predictions,  gained  so 
great  credit,   that  he  was  unanimously  chosen  pensionary 
of  Holland  ;  first  to  officiate  provisionally,  and  afterwards 
absolutely  into  the  office.     On  this  occasion,  some  of  his 
friends,  reminding  him  of  the  fate  of  his  predecessor  Barne- 
velt,   he  replied,  that  "  human  life  was  liable  to  trouble 
and  danger;  and  that  he  thought  it   honourable  to   serve 
his  country,  which  he  was  resolved  to  do,  whatever  returns 
he  might  meet  with."     The  continuance  of  the  war  was  so 
visibly  destructive   to  the   commerce  and  interest  of  the 

1  Pilkington.— Strutt's  Diet,  in  Wit. 


32  D  E     W  I  T  T. 

republic,  that  the  pensionary  with  his  friends  used  all  their 
skill  to  produce  a  negociation.  Ambassadors  were  sent  to 
Cromwell,  who  by  this  time  had  called  a  new  parliament.  To 
this  assembly  the  Dutch  ministers  were  directed  to  apply, 
but  quickly  found  them  very  different  people  from  those 
with  whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  deal ;  for  they 
entertained  the  ambassadors  with  long  prayers,  and  dis- 
covered a  total  ignorance  °f  tne  business,  tellinjj  Crom- 

O  7  O 

well,  that,  if  he  would  assume  the  supreme  authority,  they 
might  soon  come  to  a  right  understanding.     This  was  pre- 
cisely what  he  wanted ;  and  though  he  rejected  their  ad- 
vice in  words,   declaring  himself  an  humble  creature  of  the 
parliament,  yet  he  soon   after  found  means  to  get  rid  of 
them,  and  took  upon  him  the  government  under  the  title 
of  protector.     He  then  made  a  peace  with  the  Dutch  ;  the 
most  remarkable  condition  of  which  was,  the  adding  a  se- 
cret article  for  the  exclusion  of  the  house  of  Orange,  to 
which   the  States  consented    by  a  solemn   act.     But  the 
article  of  the  exclusion  raised  a  great  clamour  in  Holland  : 
it  was  insinuated  to  be  suggested  to  Cromwell  by  De  Witt ; 
and  the  pensionary  and  his  friends  found  it  difficult  to  carry 
points  absolutely  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  people. 
The  clergy  too  began  to   meddle  with  affairs   of  state  in 
their  pulpits  ;  and,  instead  of  instructing  the  people  how 
to  serve   God,  were  for  directing  their  superiors  how  to 
govern  their  subjects.     But  his  firmness  got  the  better  of 
these  difficulties  ;  and  so  far  overcame  all  prejudices,  that 
when  the  time  of  his  high  office  was  expired,  he  was  una- 
nimously continued  in  it,  by  a  resolution  of  the  States, 
Sept.  15,   1663. 

He  seemed  now  to  have  vanquished  even  Envy  herself. 
In  all  difficult  cases,  his  ministry  was  employed  :  and  when 
the  prince  of  East-Friesland  quarrelled  with  his  subjects, 
he  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  deputation  to  terminate  the 
disputes.  When  war  with  England,  alter  the  king's  resto- 
ration, became  necessary,  he  was  one  of  the  deputies  that 
prevailed  on  the  states  of  Guelder  and  Overyssel  to  furnish 
their  quota  :  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners 
for  the  direction  of  the  navy,  and  made  such  vigorous  dis- 
positions, that  he  had  a  fleet  in  much  better  condition, 
and  more  ready  for  sea,  than  the  admirals  themselves  ima- 
gined possible ;  though  naval  affairs  were  quite  new  to 
him.  When  it  was  thought  expedient,  after  Opdam's 
defeat  and  death,  that  some  of  their  own  deputies  should 


D  E    W  I  T  T.  3* 

command  the  fleet,  he  was  one  of  those  three  that  were 
put  in  commission.  When  he  came  on  board,  the  fleet 
was  shut  up  in  the  Texel,  and,  in  order  to  secure  the  out- 
ward-bound East  India  fleet,  it  was  necessary  for  it  to  put 
to  sea ;  which,  as  the  wind  then  stood,  the  sailors  declared 
impossible.  It  was  the  received  doctrine,  that  there  were 
but  10  points  of  the  compass  from  which  the  wind  could 
carry  ships  out,  and  that  22  were  against  them.  The 
pensionary  was  alone  of  another  opinion  ;  and,  as  he  was 
a  great  mathematician,  soon  discovered  the  falsity  of  this 
notion  :  he  discovered,  that  there  were  in  reality  no  less 
than  28  points  for  them,  and  but  four  against  them.  He 
engaged  to  carry  one  of  their  greatest  ships  through  the 
Spaniard's-gat  with  the  wind  at  S.  S.  W.  which  he  per- 
formed Aug.  16,  1665;  the  greatest  part  of  the  fleet  fol- 
lowed him  without  the  least  accident,  and  the  passage  has 
since  been  called  Witt's-diep.  They  met  with  a  dreadful 
storm  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  which  lasted  two  days  :  De 
Witt  remained  upon  deck  all  the  time,  never  changed  his 
cloaths,  nor  took  any  refreshment,  but  in  common  with 
the  men  ;  and,  when  he  saw  a  want  of  hands,  obliged  his 
officers  to  work  by  his  own  example.  He  wrote  a  plain 
and  accurate  relation  of  all  that  happened  during  the  ex- 
pedition, and  at  his  return  verified  every  article  of  this 
account  so  fully  to  the  States,  that  they  gave  him  solemn 
thanks  for  his  good  services,  and  offered  him  a  consider- 
able present,  which,  however,  he  declined  to  accept. 

When  the  famous  battle  in  1666  was  fought  between  the 
English  and  Dutch  for  three  days,  he  was  sent  by  the 
States  to  take  a  full  account  of  the  affair ;  and  he  drew  up 
one  from  the  best  authorities  he  could  obtain,  which  is 
justly  esteemed  a  master-piece  in  its  kind,  and  a  proof  of 
his  being  as  capable  of  recording  great  actions  as  of 
achieving  them.  In  1667,  finding  a  favourable  conjunc- 
ture for  executing  the  great  design  of  the  warm  repub- 
licans, he  established  the  perpetual  edict,  by  which  the 
office  of  stacltholder  was  for  ever  abolished,  and  the  liberty 
of  Holland,  as  it  was  supposed,  fixed  on  an  eternal  basis. 
In  1672,  when  the  prince  of  Orange  was  elected  captain 
and  admiral-general,  he  abjured  the  stadtholdership.  A 
tumult  happened  at  Dort,  and  the  people  declared  they 
would  have  the  prince  for  stadtholder;  to  which  place  he 
came  in  person  on  their  invitation,  and  accepted  the  office. 
Most  of  the  other  towns  and  provinces  followed  the  ex~ 

VOL.  XII,  D 


54  D  K    W  1  T  T. 

ample  ;  and  seditions  arose  from  these  pretences,  that  the 
De  Witts  plundered  the  state,  and  were  enemies  to  the 
house  of  Orange.  The  pensionary  begged  his  dismission 
from  the  post;  which  was  granted,  wiih  thanks  tor  his 
faithful  services.  He  did  not  affect  business,  when  he  saw 
it  was  no  longer  in  his  power  to  benefit  the  public  ;  and 
he  deplored  in  secret  the  misfortunes  of  his  country,  which, 
from  the  highest  prosperity,  fell,  as  it  were,  all  at  once  to 
the  very  brink  of  ruin.  The  invasion  of  the  French,  their 
rapid  progress,  their  own  intestine  divisions,  spread  every 
where  terror  and  confusion  ;  and  the  prince  of  Orange's 
party  heightened  these  confusions,  in  order  to  ruin  the  De 
Witts.  The  mob  were  encouraged  to  pull  down  a  house, 
in  which  the  pensionary  was  supposed  to  lie  sick  ;  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  assassinate  the  two  brothers  on  the  same 
day,  in  different  places  ;  the  count  de  Monthas,  who  had 
married  their  sister,  was  ordered  to  be  arrested  in  his  camp 
as  a  traitor,  though  he  had  behaved  with  the  greatest 
bravery.  Cornelius  De  Witt,  on  the  accusation  of  Tick- 
laer,  a  barber,  of  a  design  of  poisoning  the  prince,  was 
imprisoned  and  condemned  to  exile,  though  his  judges 
could  not  declare  him  guilty.  The  same  ignominious 
wretch  persuaded  the  people,  that  he  would  be  rescued 
out  of  prison  ;  upon  which  they  instantly  armed,  and  sur- 
rounded the  place,  where  it  unfortunately  happened  the 
pensionary  was  with  his  brother.  They  broke  open  the 
doors,  insisted  on  their  walking  down,  and  barbarously 
murdered  them.  They  carried  their  dead  bodies  to  the 
gallows,  where  they  hung  the  pensionary  a  foot  higher 
than  his  brother ;  afterwards  mangling  their  bodies,  cut 
their  cloaths  in  a  thousand  pieces,  and  sent  them  about 
the  country,  as  trophies  of  conquest ;  and  some  of  them, 
it  is  said,  cut  out  large  pieces  of  their  flesh,  which  they 
broiled  and  ate. 

Thus  fell  this  zealous  patron  of  the  glory  and  liberty 
of  his  native  country,  in  his  47th  year ;  the  greatest  genius 
of  his  time,  and  the  ablest  politician  in  war  as  well  as  peace. 
He  was  a  frank  sincere  man,  without  fraud  or  artifice, 
unless  his  silence  might  be  thought  so.  Sir  Wrilliam 
Temple,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  his  character, 
speaks  of  him,  on  various  occasions,  with  the  utmost  es- 
teem, and  with  the  highest  testimonies  of  praise  and  ad- 
miration. He  observes,  that  when  he  was  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  h«  differed  nothing  in  his  manner  of  living 


D  E    WITT.  35 

from  an  ordinary  citizen.  When  he  made  visits,  he 
was  attended  only  by  a  single  footman  ;  and  on  common 
occasions  he  was  frequently  seen  in  the  streets  without  any 
servant  at  all.  His  office,  for  the  first  ten  years,  brought 
him  in  little  more  than  300/.  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  not  above  700/.  per  annum.  He  refused  a  gift  of 
10,000/.  from  the  States,  because  he  thought  it  a  bad  pre- 
cedent in  the  government.  His  fortune  was  much  inferior 
to  what,  in  our  times,  we  see  commonly  raised  by  an  under- 
clerk  in  a  high  office.  With  great  reason,  therefore,  sit 
William  Temple,  speaking  of  his  death,  observes,  that  he 
"  deserved  another  fate,  and  a  better  return  from  his 
country,  after  eighteen  years  spent  in  their  ministry, 
without  any  care  of  his  entertainments  or  ease,  and  little 
or  his  fortune.  A  man  of  unwearied  industry,  inflexible 
constancy,  sound,  clear,  and  deep  understanding,  and  un- 
tainted integrity  ;  so  that,  whenever  he  was  blinded,  it 
was  by  the  passion  he  had  for  that  which  he  esteemed  the 
good  and  interest  of  his  state.  This  testimony  is  justly 
due  to  him  from  all  that  were  well  acquainted  with  him  ; 
and  is  the  more  willingly  paid,  since  there  can  be  as  little 
interest  to  flatter,  as  honour  to  reproach  the  dead."  Hume, 
with  equal  truth,  describes  him  as  "  a  minister  equally  emi- 
nent Cor  greatness  of  mind,  for  capacity,  and  for  integrity. 
Though  moderate  in  his  private  deportment,  he  knew  how 
to  adopt  in  his  public  councils  that  magnanimity  winch 
suits  the  minister  of  a  great  state.  It  was  ever  his  maxim, 
that  no  independent  government  should  yield  to  another 
any  evident  point  of  reason  or  equity  ;  and  that  all  such 
concessions,  so  far  from  preventing  war,  served  no  other 
purpose  than  to  provoke  fresh  claims  and  insults." 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned,  he  wrote  a  book 
containing  those  maxims  of  government,  upon  which  he 
acted  ;  which  will  be  a  never-fading  monument  to  his  im- 
mortal memory.  It  shews  the  true  and  genuine  principles 
of  policy,  on  which  alone  it  is  possible  to  erect  an  adminis- 
tration proiitable  at  home,  and  which  must  command  re- 
spect abroad.  On  the  one  hand  are  pointed  out  the  mis- 
chiefs of  tyranny,  arbitrary  power,  authority  derived  from 
faction,  monopolies,  and  every  other  species  of  corruption. 
On  the  other  hand  is  explained  the  true  method  of  ac- 
quiring and  securing  power,  riches,  peace,  and  of  ma- 
naging and  extending  trade  ;  of  supporting  liberty  Avithout 
running  into  licentiousness,  and  of  administering  the  com* 

t>  2 


36  D  E     W  I  T  T. 

momvealth  in  such  a  manner,  as  that  the  possessors  of 
power -shall  not  be  either  envied  or  feared.  A  translation 
of  it  from  the  original  Dutch,  entitled  "  The  true  interest 
and  political  maxims  of  the  republic  of  Holland,"  has  been 
printed  in  London;  to  the  last  edition  of  which,  in  1740, 
are  prefixed  historical  memoirs  of  the  illustrious  brothers 
Cornelius  and  John  De  Witt,  by  the  late  John  Campbell, 
esq.  from  whom  the  original  compilers  of  this  work  re- 
ceived the  above  particulars.1 

DEZALLIKR  (D'ARGEXVILLE,  ANTONY-JOSEPH),  a 
French  naturalist  and  biographer,  was  born  at  Paris  in  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century.  He  was  the  son  of  a  book- 
seller of  Paris,  and  was  educated  in  his  native  city,  but  a 
considerable  time  after  this  he  spent  in  foreign  countries, 
particularly  in  Italy,  where  he  formed  a  taste  for  the  fine 
arts.  He  became  acquainted  with  men  of  science  in  va- 
rious parts  of  Europe,  and  was  elected  in  1750  member 
of  the  royal  society  in  London,  and  of  the  academy  of 
sciences  at  Montpelier.  He  wrote  some  considerable  ar- 
ticles, particularly  those  of  gardening  and  hydrography, 
in  the  French  Encyclopaedia;  and  in  1747  he  published, 
in  quarto,  "  La  Theorie  et  la  Pratique  du  Jardinage  ;" 
and  in  1757,  "  Conchyliologie,  ou  Traite  sur  la  nature  des 
Coquillages,"  2  vols.  4to,  reprinted  1757,  and  accounted 
his  most  valuable  work.  His  arrangement  is  made  from 
the  external  form  of  shells,  according  to  which  he  classes 
them  as  univalve,  bivalve,  and  multivalve  ;  he  then  divides 
them  again  into  shells  of  the  sea,  of  fresh  water,  and  of 
the  lands.  He  also  gave  an  account  of  the  several  ge- 
nera of  animals  that  inhabit  shells.  He  published  also 
"  L'Orycthologie  ;  ou  Traite  des  pierres,  des  mineraux, 
des  metaux  et  autres  Fossiles,"  1755,  4to.  But  the  work 
by  which  he  is  best  known  and  most  valued  by  us,  is  what 
we  have  frequent  occasion  to  quote,  his  "  Abreg6  de  la 
Vie  de  quelques  Peintres  celebres,"  3  vols.  4to,  and  4  vols. 
Svo,  a  work  of  great  labour  and  taste,  although  not  abso- 
lutely free  from  errors.  He  practised  engraving  sometimes 
himself.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1766  ;  and  his  son  continued 
the  biography  began  by  the  father  by  the  addition  of  two 
volumes,  containing  the  lives  of  architects  and  sculptors.  * 

1  First  edit,  of  this  Diet,  supplementary    volume.  —  Universal    Hist. — His- 
tory of  the  United  Provinces,  &c. 
a  Diet.  Hist, 


D  I  A  G  O  R  A  S.  37 

D.IACONUS  PAULUS.     See  PAUL  the  DEACON. 

DIAGORA8,  a  native  of  the  island  of  Melos,  surnamed 
the  ATHEIST,  lived  in  the  ninety-first  olympiad,  or  412 
B.  C.  and  was  a  follower  of  Democrittis.  Having  been 
sold  as  a  captive  in  his  youth,  he  \vas  redeemed  by  De- 
mocritus  for  10,000  drachmas,  and  instead  of  being  made 
his  servant,  was  trained  up  in  the  study  of  philosophy,  for 
which  he  had  probably  showed  a  capacity.  At  the  same 
time  he  cultivated  polite  learning,  and  distinguished  him- 
s6ii  in  the  art  of  lyric  poetry,  which  was  so  successfully 
practised  about  that  period  by  Pindar,  Bacchylis,  and 
others.  His  name  has  been  transmitted  to  posterity  as  an. 
avowed  advocate  for  the  rejection  of  all  religious  belief; 
and  although  Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  others  have 
taken  pains  to  exculpate  him,  by  pleading  that  his  only 
intention  was  to  ridicule  heathen  superstitions,  the  general 
voice  of  antiquity  has  so  strongly  asserted  his  atheistical 
principles,  that  we  cannot  refuse  credit  to  the  report  with- 
out allowing  too  much  indulgence  to  historical  scepticism. 
It  is  easy  to  conceive,  that  one  who  had  studied  philosophy 
in  the  school  of  Democritus,  who  admitted  no  other  prin- 
ciples in  nature  than  atoms  and  a  vacuum,  would  reject 
the  whole  doctrine  of  Deity  as  inconsistent  with  the  system 
which  he  had  embraced.  And  it  is  expressly  asserted  by 
ancient  writers,  that  when,  in  a  particular  instance,  he  saw 
a  perjured  person  escape  punishment  *,  he  publicly  de- 
clared his  disbelief  of  divine  providence,  and  from  that 
time  not  oqly  spoke  with  ridicule  of  the  gods,  and  of  all 
religious  ceremonies,  but  even  attempted  to  lay  open  the 
sacred  mysteries,  and  to  dissuade  the  people  from  sub- 
mitting to  the  rites  of  initiation.  These  public  insults 
offered  to  religion  brought  upon  him  the  general  hatred  of 
the  Athenians  ;  who,  upon  his  refusing  to  obey  a  summons 
to  appear  in  the  courts  of  judicature,  issued  forth  a  decree, 
which  was  inscribed  upon  a  brazen  column,  offering  the 
reward  of  a  talent  to  any  one  who  should  kill  him,  or  two 
talents  to  any  one  who  should  bring  him  alive  before  the 

*  The  story  is  thus  told  :  Diagoras  work  as  his  own.     Diagoras,  consiclcr- 

delighted   in  making  verses,  and  had  ing  that  he  who  had  injured  him  had 

composed  a  poem,  which  a  certain  poet  not  only  escaped  unpunished   for  his 

had   stolen   from   him.     He  sued  the  theft  and  perjury,  but  also   acquired 

thief;  who  swore  he  was  not  guilty  of  glory    thereby,    concluded   that   there 

the  crime,  and  soon  after  he  gained  a  was  no  providence,  nor  any  gods,  and 

great   reputation   by   publishing  that  wrote  some  books  to  prove  it. 


38  D  I  A  G  O  R  A   S. 

judges.  This  happened  in  the  ninety-first  olympiad.  From 
that  time,  Diagoras  became  a  fugitive  in  Attica,  and  at 
last  fled  to  Corinth,  where  he  died.  It  is  said,  that  being 
on  board  a  ship  during  a  storm,  the  terrified  sailors  began 
to  accuse  themselves  for  having  received  into  their  ship  a 
man  so  infamous  for  his  impiety  ;  upon  which  Diagoras 
pointed  out  to  them  other  vessels,  which  were  near  them 
on  the  sea  in  equal  danger,  and  asked  them,  whether  they 
thought  that  each  of  these  ships  also  carried  a  Diagoras  ? 
and  that  afterwards,  when  a  friend,  in  order  to  convince 
him  that  the  gods  are  not  indifferent  to  human  affairs,  de- 
sired him  to  observe  how  many  consecrated  tablets  were 
hung  up  in  the  temples  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the 
escapes  from  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  he  said,  in  reply, 
"  True  ;  but  here  are  no  tablets  of  those  who  have  suf- 
fered shipwreck,  and  perished  in  the  sea."  But  there  is 
reason  to  suspect  that  these  tales  are  mere  inventions  ;  for 
similar  stories  have  been  told  of  Diogenes  the  Cynic,  and 
others. l 

DIAZ  (BARTHOLOMEW),  a  distinguished  Portuguese  na- 
vigator, is  celebrated  as  the  discoverer  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  He  was  employed  by  king  John  II.  of  Por- 
tugal, on  a  voyage  of  discovery  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
in  1486  he  had  traced  nearly  a  thousand  miles  of  m-w 
country,  and  after  encountering  violent  tempests,  and 
losing  the  company  of  the  victualling  vessel  which  attended 
him,  he  came  in  sight  of  the  cape  that  terminates  Africa  ; 
but  the  state  of  his  ship,  and  the  untoward  disposition  of 
his  crew,  obliged  him  to  return  without  going  round  it. 
He  named  it,  on  account  of  the  troubles  which  he  had 
undergone  in  the  voyage,  "  Cabo  Tormentoso,"  or  the 
"  Stormy  Cape."  He  returned  to  Lisbon  in  December 
1487,  and  from  his  report  the  sovereign  foresaw  that  the 
course  to  the  Indies  was  now  certainly  pointed  out,  and 
he  denominated  the  newly-discovered  point  "  Cabo  del 
Bueno  Esperanza,"  or  the  "  Cape  of  Good  Hope." ' 

DIAZ,  or  DIAZIUS  (JOHN),  one  of  the  early  martyrs 
to  the  protestant  religion,  was  born  at  Cnenza,  in  Spain, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  studied 
theology  at  Paris,  where,  from  reading  the  books  of  Luther 
and  his  disciples,  he  soon  embraced  his  doctrines.  This 
circumstance  rendering  it  necessary  to  quit  Paris,  he  went 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Moreri. — Brueker.  *  Robertson's  Hist,  of  America. 


DIAZ.  39 

to  Calvin  at  Geneva,  with  whom,  and  with  Budeus  and 
Crispinus,  he  studied  for  some  time.  He  then  went  to 
Strasburgh,  and  became  known  to  Bucer,  who,  perceiving 
his  promising  talents,  obtained  leave  of  the  council  of  that 
town  to  take  him  with  him  to  the  conference  at  Ratisbon. 
Diaz  was  no  sooner  arrived  there,  than  he  found  out  Mal- 
venda,  whom  he  had  known  at  Paris,  who  employed  the 
strongest  arguments  he  could  muster  to  induce  him  to  re- 
turn into  the  bosom  of  the  church  ;  but  Diaz  persevered 
in  his  opinions.  Soon  after,  having  got\e  to  Nenbnrg,  to 
attend  the  correcting  of  a  book  of  Bucer's  which  was  then 
at  press,  he  was  surprised  to  see  arrive  at  that  place  one  of 
his  brothers  named  Alfonsus,  an  advocate  at  the  court  of 
Rome,  who,  having  heard  of  his  apostacy,  as  he  termed 
it,  immediately  set  out  in  hopes  to  reclaim  him,  but  was 
not  more  successful  than  Malvenda.  Instead,  however,  of 
lamenting  what  he  might  term  the  obduracy  of  his  brother, 
he  laid  a  plan  against  his  life  ;  to  execute  which  base  pur- 
pose, he  feigned  to  return  home,  and  went  as  far  as 
Augsburg;  but  the  day  following  he  returned,  accom.- 
pauied  by  a  guide,  and  at  break  of  day  was  again  at  Neu- 
burg.  His  first  business  was  to  seek  his  brother ;  accord- 
ingly he  went  straight  to  his  lodgings  with  his  companion, 
who  was  disguised  as  a  courier,  and  waited  at  the  foot  of 
the  staircase,  while  the  accomplice  went  up  to  the  apart- 
ment of  Diaz,  for  whom  he  pretended  he  had  letters  to 
deliver  from  his  brother.  Dia/  being  roused  from  sleep, 
the  pretended  messenger  delivered  lam  the  letters,  and 
while  he  read  them,  made  a  fatal  stroke  at  his  head  with 
an  axe  which  he  had  concealed  under  his  cloak,  and  fled 
with  his  instigator  Alfonsus.  The  report  of  this  murder, 
which  happened  March  27,  1546,  excited  great  indigna- 
tion at  Augsburg  and  elsewhere  ;  the  assassins  were  vi- 
gorously pursued,  were  taken,  and  imprisoned  atlnspruck; 
but  the  emperor  Charles  V,  put  a  stop  to  the  proceedings 
under  pretext  that  he  would  take  cognizance  himself  of  the 
affair  at  the  approaching  diet.  This  did  not,  however, 
appease  the  conscience  of  Alfonsus,  the  fratricide,  who 
put  an  end  to  the  torments  of  reflection  by  hanging  him- 
self. A  particular  history  of  the  whole  transaction  was 
published  in  Latin  under  the  name  of  Claude  Senarclaeus, 
8vo,  which  is  very  scarce.  Jt  was  addressed  to  Bucer, 
under  the  title  "  Historia  vera  de  morte  J.  Diazii."  Diaz 
was  the  author  of  a  "  Summary  of  the  Christian  Religion," 


40  DICEARCHUS. 

of  which  a  French  translation  was  published  at  Lyons, 
1562,   8vo. l 

DICEARCHUS,  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  was  born  at 
Messina  in  Sicily.  He  was  a  philosopher,  historian,  and 
mathematician,  and  composed  a  great  many  books  on  va- 
rious subjects,  and  in  all  sciences,  which  were  much 
esteemed.  Cicero  speaks  frequently  in  the  highest  terms 
both  of  the  man  and  his  works.  Geography  was  one  of 
his  principal  studies;  and  we  have  a  tieatise,  or  rather  a 
fragment  of  a  treatise,  of  his  still  extant  upon  that  sub- 
ject. It  was  first  published  by  Henry  Stephens  in  1589, 
with  a  Latin  version  and  notes;  and  afterwards  by  Hud- 
son at  Oxford  in  1703,  among  the  "  Veteris  geographiae 
scriptures  Graecos  minores,  &c."  Pliny  tells  us  that  "  Di- 
cearchus,  a  man  of  extraordinary  learning,  had  received  a 
commission  from  some  princes  to  take  the  height  of  the 
mountains,  and  found  Pelion,  the  highest  of  them,  to  be 
1250  paces  perpendicular,  from  whence  he  concluded  it 
to  bear  no  proportion  which  could  affect  the  rotundity  of 
the  globe."  He  published  some  good  discourses  upon  po- 
litics and  government ;  and  the  work  he  composed  con- 
cerning the  republic  of  Lacedaemon  was  thought  so  ex- 
cellent, that  it  was  read  every  year  before  the  youth  in 
the  assembly  of  the  ephori.  As  a  philosopher,  his  tenets 
have  little  to  recommend  them*  He  held  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  mind,  or  soul,  either  in  man  or  beast ;  that 
the  principle  by  which  animals  perceive  and  act,  is  equally 
diffused  throngh  the  body,  is  inseparable  from  it,  and  ex- 
pires with  it ;  that  the  human  race  always  existed  ;  that  it 
is  impossible  to  foretel  future  events  ;  and  that  the  know- 
ledge of  them  would  be  an  infelicity. 2 

DICK  (Sm  ALEXANDER),  bart.  of  Prestonfield,  an  emi- 
nent physician,  the  third  son  of  sir  William  Cunningham, 
of  Caprington,  by  dame  Janet  Dick,  the  only  child  and 
heiress  of  sir  James  Dick,  of  Prestonfield,  near  Edinburgh, 
was  born  Oct.  23,  1703.  While  his  two  elder  brothers 
succeeded  to  ample  fortunes,  the  one  as  heir  to  his  father, 
and  the  other  to  his  mother,  the  provision  made  for  a 
younger  son  was  not  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  live  in  a 
manner  agreeable  to  his  wishes  without  the  aid  of  his  own 
exertions.  After,  therefore,  receiving  a  classical  educa- 
tion at  Edinburgh,  he  studied  medicine  at  Leyden  under 

1  Moreri. — Freheri  Theatrum.— - Verheiden  Effigies,  See.— Saxii  Onomast. 
*  Gen,  Diet,— Moreri,— Saxii  Onomast.— Brucker. 


DICK.  41 

the  celebrated  Boerhaave,  and  obtained  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  from  that  univerc  ;  Aug.  31,  1725.  On  this  oc- 
casion he  published  an  i",  >  -,gural  dissertation,  "  De  Epi- 
lepsia,"  which  did  him  mucti  credit.  Not  long  after  this 
he  returned  to  Scotland,  and  had  the  honour  of  receiving 
a  second  diploma  for  the  degree  of  M.  D.  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  university  of  St.  Andrew's,  Jan.  23,  1727,  and 
Nov.  7  of  the  same  year,  was  admitted  a  fellow  of  the  royal 
college  of  physicians  of  Edinburgh.  But  after  Dr.  Cun- 
ningham (for  at  that  time  he  bore  the  name  of  his  father) 
had  received  these  distinguishing  marks  of  attention  at 
home,  he  was  still  anxious  to  obtain  farther  knowledge  of 
his  profession  by  the  prosecution  of  hi-,  studies  abroad. 
With  this  intention  he  made  the  tour  of  Europe  ;  and  al- 
though medicine  was  uniformly  his  first  and  principal  ob- 
ject, yet  other  arts  and  sciences  were  not  neglected. 

On  his  return  to  Britain,  Mr.  Hooke,  a  gentleman  with 
whom  he  had  formed  an  intimate  friendship,  and  who  pos- 
sessed a  large  fortune  in  Pembrokeshire,  persuaded  him 
to  settle  as  a  physician  in  that  country,  where  for  several 
years  he  practised  with  great  reputation  and  success.  But 
his  immediate  elder  brother,  sir  William  Dick,  dying  with- 
out issue,  he  succeeded  to  the  family  estate  and  title,  as- 
suming from  that  time  the  name  and  arms  of  Dick  ;  and 
very  soon  after  fixed  his  residence  at  the  family-seat  of 
Preston-field.  Although  he  now  resolved  to  relinquish 
medicine  as  a  lucrative  profession,  yet,  from  inclination, 
he  still  continued  to  cultivate  it  as  an  useful  science.  With 
this  view  he  supported  a  friendly  and  intimate  correspond- 
ence with  the  physicians  of  Edinburgh,  and  paid  parti- 
cular attention  to  the  business  of  the  ro\  al  college,  among 
the  list  of  whose  members  his  name  had  been  enrolled  at  a 
very  early  period  of  his  life.  In  1756  he  was  unanimously 
chosen  president  of  the  college,  and  was  afterwards  elected 
to  that  office  for  seven  years  successively.  He  not  only 
contributed  liberally  towards  the  building  of  a  hall  for  their 
accommodation,  but  strenuously  exerted  himself  in  pro^ 
moting  every  undertaking  in  which  he  thought  the  honour 
or  interest  of  the  college  was  concerned.  He  was  also 
long  distinguished  as  a  zealous  and  active  member  of  the 
philosophical  society  of  Edinburgh,  and  when  the  present 
royal  society  of  Edinburgh  received  its  charter,  the  name 
of  sir  Alexander  Dick  stood  enrolled  as  one  of  the  first  in 
the  list.  For  many  years  he  discharged  the  duties  of  a 


*2  DICK. 

faithful  tfnd  vigilant  manager  of  die  royal  iniirinnrj*  of 
Kdinburgh ;  and  took  on  all  occasions  an  active  share  in 
promoting  every  public  and  useful  undertaking.  When 
the  seeds  of  the  true  rhubarb  were  first  introduced  into 
Britain  by  the  late  Dr.  Mounsey  of  Petersburg!),  he  not 
only  bestowed  great  attention  on  the  culture  of  the  plant, 
but  also  on  the  drying  of  the  root,  and  preparing  it  for  the 
market.  His  success  in  these  particulars  was  so  great, 
that  the  society  in  London  for  the  encouragement  of  arts 
and  commerce,  presented  him,  in  1774,  with  a  gold  medal, 
which  is  inscribed  "  To  sir  Alexander  Dick,  bart.  for  the 
best  specimen  of  British  rhubarb."  While  steady  in  the 
pursuit  of  every  object  which  engaged  his  attention,  his 
conduct  in  every  transaction  through  life  was  marked  with 
the  strictest  honour  and  integrity.  This,  disposition,  and 
this  conduct,  not  only  led  him  to  be  constant  and  warm  in 
his  friendship  to  those  with  whom  he  lived  in  habits  of 
intimacy,  but  also  procured  him  the  love  and  esteem  of 
ail  who  really  knew  him.  Notwithstanding  the  keenness 
and  activity  of  his  temper,  yet  its  striking  features  were 
mildness  and  sweetness.  He  was  naturally  disposed  to  put 
the  most  favourable  construction  on  the  conduct  and  ac- 
tions of  others,  which  was  both  productive  of  much  hap- 
piness to  himself,  and  of  general  benevolence  to  mankind. 
And  that  serenity  and  cheerfulness  which  accompanied  his 
conduct  through  life,  were  the  attendants  even  of  his  last 
moments  ;  for  on  Nov.  10,  1785,  he  died  with  a  smile 
upon  his  countenance,  lamented  as  a  great  loss  to  society.  ' 
DICKINSON  (EDMUND),  a  celebrated  physician  and 
chemist,  was  son  of  William  Dickinson,  rector  of  Apple- 
ton  in  Berkshire,  and  born  therein  16'_M-.  He  acquired 
his  classical  learning  at  Eton,  and  from  thence,  in  1612, 
was  sent  to  Merton-college  in  Oxford.  Having  regularly 
taken  the  degrees  in  arts,  he  entered  on  the  study  of  me- 
dicine, and  took  both  the  degrees  in  that  faculty.  In  l(i,55 
he  published  his  "  Delphi  Phcenicizantes,  *kc."  a  very 
learned  piece,  in  which  he  attempts  to  prove  that  the 
Greeks  borrowed  the  story  of  the  Pythian  Apollo,  and  all 
that  rendered  the  oracle  of  Delphi  famous,  from  the  holy 
scriptures,  and  the  book  of  Joshua  in  particular  *.  Tins 

*  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  II. — Boswell's  Life  of 
Johnson,  and  Journey. 

*  It  must   not    b*   concealed   that      real    author   of   the   above-tnentionH 
Anthony  Wood  has  suggested,  tbat  the     work  was  Henry  Jacob,  a  prudigy  <if 


DICKINSON.  43 

work  procured  him  much  reputation  both  at  home  and 
abroad;  and  Sheldon  (afterwards  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury) is  said  to  have  had  so  high  a  sense  of  its  value,  that 
he  would  have  persuaded  the  author  to  have  applied  him- 
self to  divinity,  and  to  have  taken  orders  ;  but  he  was 
already  fixed  in  his  choice.  To  this  treatise  were  added, 
1.  "  Diatriba  de  Nore  in  Italiam  adventu  ;  ejusque  nomi- 
nibus  ethnicis."  2.  "  De  origine  Druidum."  3.  Orati- 
uncula  pro  philosophia  liberanda,"  which  had  been  spoken, 
by  him  in  the  hall  of  Merton  college,  July  1653,  and  was 
the  first  tiling  which  made  him  known  among  the  learned. 
4.  "  /acharias  Bogan  Edmundo  Dickinson  ;"  a  letter  filled 
with  citations  from  the  most  ancient  authors  in  support  of 
his  opinions,  and  the  highest  commendations  of  his  learn- 
ing, industry,  and  judgment.  The  "  Delphi  Phoenici- 
zantes,"  &c.  came  out  first  at  Oxford  in  1655, 12mo,  and  was 
reprinted  at  Francfort,  1669,  8vo,  and  at  Rotterdam  in 
1691,  by  Crenius,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  "  Fasciculus 
dissertation  uo>  Historico-critico-philologicarum,"  1 2  mo. 
Afterwards  Dr.  Dickinson  applied  himself  to  chemistry 
with  much  assiduity;  and,  about  1662,  received  a  visit 
from  Theodore  Mundanus,  an  illustrious  adept  of  France, 
who  encouraged  him  mightily  to  proceed  in  the  study  of 
alchemy,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  him  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  transmutation  of  metals,  a  credulity  for  which, 
he  probably  paid  first  in  his  purse,  and  afterwards  in  his 
reputation.  At  length  he  left  his  college,  and  took  a 
house  in  the  High-street,  Oxford,  for  the  sake  of  follow- 
ing the  business  of  his  profession  more  conveniently.  In. 
li>69  he  married  for  the  first  time;  but  his  wife  dying 
in  child- bed,  and  leaving  him  a  daughter,  he  some  time 
after  married  a  second,  who  also  died  in  a  short  time.  His 
wives  were  both  gentlewomen  of  good  families. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Willis,  which  happened  in  1684, 
Dickinson  removed  to  London,  and  took  his  house  in  St. 
Martin's- lane  ;  where,  soon  after  recovering  Henry  Ben- 
net,  earl  of  Arlington,  lord  chamberlain  to  Charles  II. 
when  all  hopes  of  recovery  were  past,  that  nobleman  intro- 

learning,  but  a  careless  man,  who  suf-  the  character  of  Dr.  Dickinson,    and 

fered  others  to  obtain  that  f.iine  which  evince  him  to  be  altogether  destitute  of 

belonged  to  him,    by   surrendering  to  integrity.     He,  however,   had  the   r«- 

their    use    his    laborious    productions,  potation  of  being  the  author,  and  de- 

But  though  the   evidence   ad'luced  by  rived  benefit  from  the  opinion  that  was 

Wood  i«   s  roug    ii  ie  not  sufficient  ta  etitf  r'aine.l  in  consequence  of  it,  of 

determine  a  point  which  must  impeach  his  learning. 


44  DICKINSON. 

cluced  him  to  the  king,  who  made  him  one  of  his  physicians 
in   ordinary,    and   physician    to   his    household.     As   that 
prince  was  a  lover  of  chemistry,  and  a  considerable  pro- 
ficient, Dickinson  grew  into  great  favour  at  court;  which 
favour  lasted  to  the  end  of  Charles's  reign,  and  that  of  his 
successor  James,   who  continued   him  in  hoth  his  places. 
In  1636  he  published   in    Latin  his  epistle    to  Theodore 
Mundanus,   and  also  his  answer,  translated  from  the  French 
into  Latin  :   for,  in   1679,  this   chemist  had  paid  him  a 
second  visit,  and  renewed  his  acquaintance.     The  title  of 
it  in  English  is,   "  An  Epistle  of  E.  D.  to  T.  M.  an  adept, 
concerning  the  quintessence  of  the  philosophers,  and  the 
true  system  of  physics,  together  with  certain  queries  con- 
cerning the  materials  of  alchemy.     To  which  are  annexed 
the  answers  of  Mundanus,"   8vo.     After  the  abdication  of 
his  unfortunate  master,  he  retired  from  practice,  being  old, 
and  much  afflicted  with  the  stone,  but  continued  his  studies. 
He  had  long  meditated  a  system  of  philosophy,  not  founded 
on   hypothesis,  or  even  experiment,  but,  chiefly  deduced 
from  principles  collected  from  the  Mosaic  history.     Part  of 
this  laborious  work,  when  he  had  almost  finished  it,  was 
burnt;  but,  not  discouraged  by  this  accident,  he  began  it 
a  second  time,  and  did  not  discontinue  it,  till  he  had  com- 
pleted the  whole.     It  came  out  in  1702  under  the  title  of 
"  Physica  vetus  et  vera  ;  sive  tractatus  de  naturali  veritate 
hexoemeri  Mosaici,  &c."     In  this  he  attempts,  from   the 
scriptural  account  of  the  creation,  to  explain  the  manner 
in  which  the  world  was  formed.     Assuming,  as  the  ground 
of  his  theory,    the   atomic    doctrine,   and  the    existence 
of  an   immaterial   cause   of  the    concourse  of  indivisible 
atoms,  he  supposes  the  particles  of  matter  agitated  by  a 
double  motion  ;  one  gentle  and  transverse,  of  the  particles 
among    themselves,    whence    elementary    corpuscles    are 
formed  ;  the  other  circular,  by  which  the  whole  mass  is 
revolved,  and  the  regions  of  heaven  and  earth  are  pro- 
duced.    By  the  motion  of  the  elementary  corpuscles  of 
different  magnitude  and  form,  he  supposes  the  different 
bodies  of  nature  to  have  been  produced,  and  attempts, 
upon  this  plan,  to  describe  the  process  of  creation  through 
each  of  the  six  days.     He  explains  at  large  the  formation 
of  human  nature,  shewing  in  what  manner,  by  means  of  a 
plastic  seminal  virtue,  man  became   an    animated    being. 
This  theory,  though  founded  upon  conjecture,  and  loaded 
with  unphilosophical  fictions,  the  author  not  only  pretends 


DICK  INS  O  N.  45 

to  derive  from  the  Mosaic  narrative,  but  maintains  to  have 
been  consonant  to  the  most  ancient  Hebrew  traditions. 
The  use  which  this  theorist  makes  of  the  doctrine  of  atoms, 
shews  him  to  have  been  wholly  unacquainted  with  the  true 
notion  of  the  ancients  on  this  subject;  and  indeed  the 
whole  work  seems  to  have  b§en  the  offspring  of  a  con- 
fused imagination,  rather  than  of  a  sound  judgment.  Bur- 
net,  who  attempted  the  same  design  afterwards,  disco- 
vered far  more  learning  and  ability.  This  work,  however, 
was  in  such  demand  as  to  be  printed  again  at  Rotterdam 
in  1703,  in  4to,  and  at  Leoburg,  1705,  12mo. 

Besides  the  pieces  above  mentioned,  he  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  author  of  "  Parabola  philosophica,  seu  iter 
Philareti  ad  montem  Mercurii."  He  left  behind  him  also 
in  MS.  a  Latin  treatise  on  the  Grecian  games,  which  was 
annexed  to  an  account  of  his  life  and  writings,  published 
at  London  in  1739,  8vo,  by  the  Rev.  W.  N.  Blomberg, 
rector  of  Fulham.  He  died  of  the  stone,  April  1707,  being 
then  in  his  eighty-third  year,  and  was  interred  in  the 
church  of  St.  Martin  in  the  Fields. l 

D1CKSON  (DAVID),  an  eminent  divine  of  the  church  of 
Scotland,  the  son  of  John  Dickson,  a  merchant  in  Glas- 
gow, was  born  about  1583,  and  educated  at  the  university 
of  his  native  city.  After  taking  the  degree  of  M.  A.  he 
was  admitted  regent,  or  professor  of  philosophy,  an  office 
which,  at  that  time,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the 
foreign  universities,  was  held  only  for  a  term  of  years  (in 
this  case,  of  eight  years)  after  which  these  regents  re- 
ceived ordination.  Accordingly,  in  1618,  Mr.  Dickson 
was  ordained  minister  of  the  town  of  Irvine,  which  prefer- 
ment he  held  about  twenty-three  years,  and  became  a  very 
popular  preacher.  Although  always  inclined  to  the  pres- 
byterian  form  of  church-government,  he  had  shewn  no 
great  reluctance  to  the  episcopal  forms  until  the  passing  of, 
what  are  known,  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Scotland, 
by  the  name  of  the  Perth  articles  ;  five  articles,  which  en- 
joined kneeling  at  the  sacrament;  private  adtninistratioa 
of  it  in  extreme  sickness  ;  private  baptism,  if  necessary  ; 
episcopal  confirmation  ;  and  the  observation  of  Epiphany, 
Christmas,  £,c.  These,  however  harmless  they  may  ap- 
pear to  an  English  reader,  were  matters  not  only  of  ob- 
jection, but  abhorrence  to  a  great  proportion  of  the  Scotch 

1  Life,  by  Blomberj.— Biog.  Brit.— Ath,  Ox.  TO!.  II.  and  Wood's  Life,  1772^ 
p.  172. 


46  D  I  C  K  S  O  N. 

clergy;  and  Mr.  Dickson  having  expressed  his  dislike  in 
strong  terms,  and  probably  in  the  pulpit,  was  suspended 
from  his  pastoral  charge,  and  ordered  to  remove  to  Turriff, 
in  the  north  of  Scotland,  within  twenty  days.  After  much 
interest,  however,  had  been  employed,  for  he  had  many 
friends  among  persons  of  rank,  who  respected  his  talents 
and  piety,  he  was  allowed  in  1623  to  return  to  Irvine. 
As  during  the  progress  of  the  rebellion  in  England,  the 
power  of  the  established  church  decayed  also  in  Scotland, 
Dickson  exerted  himself  with  considerable  effect  in  the 
restoration  of  the  presbyterian  form  of  church-government, 
and  there  being  a  reluctance  to  this  change  on  the  part 
of  the  learned  divines  of  Aberdeen,  he  went  thither  in 
1637,  and  held  solemn  disputations  with  Doctors  Forbes, 
Barron,  Sibbald,  &c.  of  that  city,  which  were  after- 
wards published.  In  1641  he  was  removed  from  Irvine 
to  be  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Glasgow; 
and  in  1643  he  assisted  in  drawing  up  some  of  those 
formularies  which  are  contained  in  the  "  Confession  of 
Faith,"  a  book  which  is  still  subscribed  by  the  clergy  of 
Scotland.  The  "  Directory  for  public  worship,"  and 
"  The  sum  of  saving  knowledge,"  were  from  his  pen,  as- 
sisted, in  the  former,  by  Henderson  and  Calderwood  ;  and 
in  the  latter,  by  Durham.  Some  years  after,  probably 
about  164S,  he  was  invited  to  the  elmir  of  professor  of  di- 
vinity at  Edinburgh,  which  he  held  until  the  restoration, 
when  he  was  ejected  for  refusing  the  oath  of  supremacy. 
He  did  not  survive  this  long,  dying  in  1662.  He  was  es- 
teemed one  of  the  ablest  and  most  useful  men  of  his  time, 
in  the  promotion  of  the  church  of  Scotland  as  now  esta- 
blished, and  his  writings  have  been  accounted  standard 
books  with  those  who  adhere  to  her  principles  as  originally 
laid  down.  His  principal  works  are,  I.  "  A  Commentary 
on  the  Hebrews,"  8vo.  2.  "  On  Matthew,"  4to.  3.  "  On 
the  Psalms,"  1655,  3  vols.  12mo.  4.  "  On  the  Epistles,1' 
Latin  and  English,  folio  and  4to.  5.  "  Therapeutica  Sa- 
cra, or  Cases  of  Conscience  resolved,"  Latin  4to,  English 
8vo.  6.  "A  treatise  on  the  Promises,"  Dublin,  1630, 
1 2tno.  Besides  these  he  wrote  some  pieces  of  religious 
poetry  for  the  common  people,  and  left  several  MSS.  As 
he  had  had  a  considerable  hand  in  the  "  Confession  of 
Faith,"  he  lectured,  when  professor  of  divinity,  on  that 
book,  the  heads  of  which  lectures  were  afterwards  pub- 
lished, as  he  had  delivered  them,  in  Latin,  under  the  title 


D  I  C  K  S  O  N.  47 

*'  Prelectiones  in  Confessionem  Fidei,"  folio  ;  but  they 
have  been  since  translated  and  often  reprinted,  under  the 
title  of  "  Truth's  Victory  over  Error,"  one  of  the  most 
useful,  and  now,  we  believe,  the  only  one  of  his  works 
which  continues  still  popular  in  Scotland.  Prefixed  is  a 
life  of  the  author  by  Woodrovv,  the  ecclesiastical  histo- 
rian, from  which  we  have  extracted  the  above  particulars.1 
DICTYS  CttETENSIS,  is  the  supposed  name  of  a  very 
ancient  historian,  who,  serving  under  Idomeneus,  a  king  of 
Crete,  in  the  Trojan  war,  wrote  the  history  of  that  expe- 
ilition  in  nine  books ;  and  Tzetzes  tells  us,  that  Homer 
formed  his  Iliad  upon  his  plan  :  but  the  Latin  history  of 
Dictys,  which  we  have  at  present,  is  altogether  spurious. 
There  are  two  anonymous  writers  still  extant,  who  pretend 
to  have  written  of  the  Trojan  war  previously  to  Homer, 
one  of  whom  goes  under  the  name  of  Dictys  Cretensis,  the 
other  that  of  Dares  Phrygius,  of  which  last  we  have  already 
taken  some  notice.  Before  the  history  of  Dictys  there  are 
two  prefaces  ;  the  first  of  which  relates  that  Dictys  wrote 
six  volumes  of  the  Trojan  war  in  the  Phoenician  characters  ; 
and  in  his  old  age,  after  he  was  returned  to  his  own 
country,  ordered  them,  a  little  before  his  death,  to  be 
buried  with  him  in  a  leaden  chest  or  repository,  which  was 
accordingly  done ;  that,  however,  after  many  ages,  and 
under  the  reign  of  Nero,  an  earthquake  happened  at  Cnos- 
«us,  a  city  of  Crete,  which  uncovered  Dictys's  sepulchre, 
and  exposed  the  chest ;  that  the  shepherds  took  it  up,  and 
expecting  a  treasure,  opened  it;  and  that,  finding  this  his- 
tory, they  sent  it  to  Nero,  who  ordered  it  to  be  translated, 
or  rather  transcharactered,  from  Phoenician  into  Greek. 
It  has  been  inferred  from  this  story  that  the  history  was 
forged  by  some  of  Nero's  flatterers,  as  he  always  affected 
a  fondness  for  any  thing  relating  to  Trojan  antiquities. 
The  other  preface  to  Dictys  is  an  epistle  of  L.  Septimius, 
the  Latin  translator,  in  which  he  inscribes  it  to  Arcadius 
Kuffinus,  who  was  consul  in  the  reign  of  Constantino ; 
and  tells  nearly  the  same  story  of  the  history  we  have 
already  related.  That  the  present  Latin  Dictys  had  a 
Greek  original,  now  lost,  appears  from  the  numerous 
Grecisms  with  which  it  abounds  ;  and  from  the  literal  cor- 
respondence of  many  passages  with  the  Greek  fragments 
<it  one  Dictys  cited  by  ancient  authors.  The  Greek  ovi- 

1  Life  ul>i  jupra. 


48  D  I  C  T  Y  S. 

ginal  was  very  probably,  as  we  have  just  hinted,  forged 
under  the  name  of  Dictys,  a  traditionary  writer  on  the 
subject,  in  the  reign  of  Nero.  The  best  editions  of  Dictys 
and  Dares  Phrygius,  are  that  of  madame  Dacier,  Paris, 
1680,  4to,  and  that  of  Smids,  4to  and  8vo,  Anist.  1702,  2 
volumes. l 

DIDEROT  (DENYS),  of  the  academy  of  Berlin,  an  emi- 
nent French  writer,  was  the  son  of  a  cutler,  and  was  bora 
at  Langres,  in  1713.  The  Jesuits,  with  whom  he  went 
through  a  course  of  study,  were  desirous  of  having  him  in 
their  order,  and  one  of  his  uncles  designing  him  for  a  ca- 
nonry  which  he  had  in  his  gift,  made  him  take  the  ton- 
sure. But  his  father,  seeing  that  he  was  not  inclined  to 
be  either  a  Jesuit  or  a  canon,  sent  him  to  Paris  to  prose- 
gute  his  studies.  He  then  placed  him  with  a  lawyer,  to 
whose  instructions  young  Diderot  paid  little  attention,  but 
employed  himself  in  general  literature,  which  not  coin- 
ciding with  the  views  of  his  father,  he  stopped  the  remit- 
tance of  his  pecuniary  allowance,  and  seemed  for  some 
time  to  have  abandoned  him.  The  talents  of  the  young 
man,  however,  supplied  him  with  a  maintenance,  and 
gradually  made  him  known.  He  had  employed  his  mind 
on  physics,  geometry,  metaphysics,  ethics,  belles-lettres, 
from  the  time  he  began  to  read  with  reflection,  and  al- 
though a  bold  and  elevated  imagination  seemed  to  give  him 
a  turn  for  poetry,  he  neglected  it  for  the  more  serious 
sciences.  He  settled  at  an  early  period  at  Paris,  where 
the  natural  eloquence  which  animated  his  conversation 
procured  him  friends  and  patrons.  What  first  gave  him 
reputation  among  a  certain  class  of  readers,  unfortu- 
nately for  France,  too  numerous  in  that  country,  was 
a  little  collection  of  "  Pensees  philosophiques,"  reprinted 
afterwards  under  the  title  of  "  Etrennes  aux  esprits-forts.'* 
This  book  appeared  in  1746,  l2mo.  The  adepts  of  the 
new  philosophy  compared  it,  for  perspicuity,  elegance, 
and  force  of  diction,  to  the  "  Pensees  de  Pascal."  But 
the  aim  of  the  two  authors  was  widely  different.  Pascal 
employed  his  talents,  and  erudition,  which  was  profound 
and  various,  in  support  of  the  truths  of  religion,  which 
Diderot  attacked  by  all  the  arts  of  an  unprincipled  sophist. 
The  "  Pens6es  philosophiques,"  however,  became  a  toilet- 
book.  The  author  was  thought  to  be  always  in  the  right, 

i  Voss.  Hist.  Graec,— fabric.  Bibl,  Grac.— Saxii  OnOmasU 


DIDEROT.  49 

because  he  always  dealt  in  assertions.     Diderot  was  more 
usefully  employed  in  1746,  in  publishing  a  "  Dictionnaire 
universelle  de  Medecine,"  with  Messrs.  Eidous  and  Tous- 
saint,  in  G  vols.  folio.     Not  that  this  compilation,  says  his 
biographer,  is  without  its  defects  in   many  points  of  view, 
or  that  it  contains  no  superficial  and   inaccurate  articles; 
but  it  is  not  without  examples  of  deep  investigation  ;  and 
the  work  was  well  received.     A  more  recent  account,  how- 
ever, informs  us  that  this  was  merely  a  translation  of  Dr. 
James's  Medical  Dictionary,  published  in  this  country  in 
1743;    and   that    Diderot  was   next  advised   to    translate 
Chambers' s  Dictionary  ;  but  instead  of  acting  so  inferior  a 
part,  he  conceived  the  project  of  a  more  extensive  under- 
taking,  the  "Dictionnaire  Encyclopedique."     So  great  a 
monument  not  being   to  be  raised  by  a  single  architect, 
D'Alembert,  the  friend  of  Diderot,  shared  with  him  the 
honours  and  the   dangers  of  the  enterprise,  in  which  they 
were  promised  the  assistance  of  several  literati,  and  a  va- 
riety of  artists.     Diderot  took  upon  himself  alone  the  de- 
scription of  arts  and  trades,  one  of  the  most  important 
parts,  and  most  acceptable  to  the  public.     To  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  several  processes  of  the  workmen,  he  some- 
times    added     reflections,     speculations,    and     principles 
adapted   to  their  elucidation.     Independently  of  the  part 
of  arts  and   trades,  this  chief  of  the  encyclopedists  fur- 
nished in  the  different  sciences  a  considerable  number  of 
articles  that  were  wanting  ;  but  even  his  countrymen  are 
inclined  to  wish  that  in  a  work  of  such  a  vast  extent,  and 
of  such  general  use,  he  had  {earned  to  compress  his  mat- 
ter, and  had  been  less  verbose,  less  of  the  dissertator,  and 
less  inclined  to  digressions.     He  has  also  been  censured  for 
employing  needlessly  a  scientific  language,  and  for  having 
recourse  to  metaphysical  doctrines,  frequently  unintelli- 
gible, which  occasioned  him  to  be  called  the  Lycophron. 
of  philosophy  ;    for  having  introduced  a  number  of  de- 
finitions incapable  of  enlightening  the  ignorant,  and  which 
he  seems  to  have  invented  for   no  other  purpose  than  to 
have  it  thought  that  he  had  great  ideas,  while  in  fact,  he 
had  not  the  art  of  expressing  perspicuously  and   simply 
the  ideas  of  others.     As  to  the  body  of  the  work,   Diderot 
himself  agreed  that  the  edifice  wanted  an   entire  repara- 
tion ;  and  when   two  booksellers  intended   to  give  a  new 
edition  of  the  Encyclopedic,  he  thus  addressed  them  on 
the  subject  of  the  faults  with  which  it  abounds:  "The 
VOL.  XII.  E 


50  DIDEROT. 

imperfection  of  this  work  originated  in  a  great  variety  of 
causes.  We  had  not  time  to  be  very  scrupulous  in  the 
choice  of  the  coadjutors.  Among  some  excellent  persons, 
there  were  others  weak,  indifferent,  and  altogether  bad. 
Hence  that  motley  appearance  of  the  work,  where  we  see 
the  rude  attempt  of  a  school-boy  by  the  side  of  a  piece 
from  the  hand  of  a  master  ;  and  a  piece  of  nonsense  next 
neighbour  to  a  sublime  performance.  Some  working  for 
no  pay,  soon  lost  their  first  fervour;  others  badly  recom- 
pensed, served  us  accordingly.  The  Encyclopedic  was  a 
gulf  into  which  all  kinds  of  scribblers  promiscuously  threw 
their  contributions  :  their  pieces  were  ill-conceived,  and 
worse  digested  ;  good,  bad,  contemptible,  true,  false,  un- 
certain, and  always  incoherent  and  unequal ;  the  references 
that  belonged  to  the  very  parts  assigned  to  a  person,  were 
never  filled  up  by  him.  A  refutation  is  often  found  where 
we  should  naturally  expect  a  proof;  and  there  was  no  exact 
correspondence  between  the  letter-press  and  the  plates. 
To  remedy  this  defect,  recourse  was  had  to  long  explica- 
tions. But  how  many  unintelligible  machines,  for  want 
of  letters  to  denote  the  parts  !"  To  this  sincere  confes- 
sion Diderot  added  particular  details  on  various  parts;  such 
as  proved  that  there  were  in  the  Encyclopedic  subjects 
to  be  not  only  re-touched,  but  to  be  composed  afresh  ; 
and  this  was  what  a  new  company  of  literati  and  artists  un- 
dertook, but  have  not  yet  completed.  The  first  edition, 
however,  which  had  been  delivering  to  the  public  from 
1751  to  1767,  was  soon  sold  off,  because  its  defects  were 
compensated  in  part  by  many  well-executed  articles,  and 
because  uncommon  pains  were  taken  to  recommend  it  to 
the  public. 

The  great  objects  which  Diderot  and  his  coadjutors  had 
in  view  when  they  entered  upon  this  work,  are  now  univer- 
sally known.  It  has  been  completely  proved,  that  their 
intention  was  to  sap  the  foundation  of  all  religion  ;  not 
directly  or  avowedly,  for  \mre-faced  atheism  would  not  then 
have  been  suffered  in  France.  They  had  engaged  a  very 
worthy,  though  not  very  acute  clergyman,  to  furnish  the 
theological  articles,  and  while  he  was  supporting,  by  the  best 
arguments  which  he  could  devise,  the  religion  of  his  country, 
Diderot  and  D'Alembert  were  overturning  those  arguments 
under  titles  which  properly  allowed  of  no  such  disquisitions. 
This  necessarily  produced  digressions:  for  the  greatest  ge- 
nius on  earth  could  not,  when  writing  on  the  laws  of  motion, 


DIDEROT.  51 

attack  the  mysteries  of  Christianity  without  wandering  from 
his  subject;  but  that  the  object  of  these  digressions  might 
not  pass  unnoticed  by  any  class  of  readers,  care  was  taken 
to  refer  to  them  from  the  articles  where  the  question  was 
discussed  by  the  divine.  That  when  employed  in  this 
way,  Diderot  seems  to  write  obscurely,  is  indeed  true ; 
but  the  obscurity  is  not  his.  His  atheism  was  so  plain, 
that  for  the  most  part,  D'Alembert  or  some  other  leader, 
had  to  retouch  his  articles,  and  throw  a  mist  over  them,  to 
render  their  intention  less  obvious. 

Diderot,  who  had  been  working  at  this  dictionary  for  near 
twenty  years,  had  not  received  a  gratuity  proportionate  to 
his  trouble  and  his  zeal,  and  saw  himself  not  long  after 
the  publication  of  the  last  volumes,  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  exposing  his  library  to  sale,  which  he  pretended  to 
be  very  copious  and  valuable.  The  empress  of  Russia 
ordered  it  to  be  bought  for  her  at  the  price  of  fifty  thousand 
livres,  and  left  him  the  use  of  it.  It  is  said,  that  when 
her  ambassador  wanted  to  see  it,  after  a  year  or  two's  pay- 
ments, and  the  visitation  could  be  no  longer  put  off,  Di- 
derot was  obliged  to  run  in  a  hurry  through  all  the  book- 
sellers shops  in  Germany,  to  fill  his  empty  shelves  with 
old  volumes.  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  save  appear- 
ances ;  but  the  trick  was  discovered,  because  he  had  been 
niggardly  in  his  attention  to  the  ambassador's  secretary. 
This,  however,  did  not  hinder  him  from  visiting  the  em- 
press, where  he  behaved  in  such  a  manner,  that  her  ma- 
jesty thought  it  necessary  to  send  him  back,  and  he  com- 
forted himself  for  this  disgrace,  with  the  idea  that  the 
Russians  were  not  yet  ripe  for  the  sublimity  of  his  philo- 
sophy. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  "  Encyclopedic,"  which  had 
partly  procured  its  editor  these  foreign  honours  and  remu- 
nerations, gave  great  offence  at  home.  Certain  positions 
on  government  and  on  religion  occasioned  the  impression 
to  be  suspended  in  1752.  At  that  time  there  were  no  more 
than  two  volumes  of  the  dictionary  published  ;  and  the 
prohibition  of  the  succeeding  ones  was  only  taken  off  at 
the  end  of  1753.  Five  new  volumes  then  successively  ap- 
peared. But  in  1757  a  new  storm  arose,  and  the  book 
was  suppressed.  The  remainder  did  not  appear  till  about 
ten  years  after ;  and  then  was  only  privately  distributed. 
Some  copies  were  even  seized,  and  the  printers  were  im- 
prisoned in  the  Bastille.  To  whatever  cause  all  these  in- 

B   2 


52  D  I  D  E  R  O  T, 

terruptions  were  imputable,  Diderot  did  not  suffer  his 
genius  to  be  impeded  by  the  difficulties  that  were  thrown 
in  his  way.  Alternately  serious  and  sportive,  solid  and 
frivolous,  he  published  at  the  very  time  he  was  working 
on  the  Dictionary  of  Sciences,  several  productions  which 
could  scarcely  have  been  thought  to  proceed  from  an  en- 
cyclopedical head.  His  "  Bijoux  indiscrets,"  2  vols. 
12mo,  are  of  this  number — a  disgusting  work,  even  to 
those  young-  people  who  are  unhappily  too  eager  after  li- 
centious romances.  Even  here  a  certain  philosophical  pe- 
dantry appears,  in  the  very  passages  where  it  is  most  mis- 
placed ;  and  never  is  the  author  more  aukvvard  than  when 
he  intends  to  display  a  graceful  ease.  The  "  Fils  naturel," 
and  the  "  Pere  de  Famille,"  two  comedies  in  prose,  which 
appeared  in  1757  and  1758,  are  of  a  superior  kind  ^  moral 
and  affecting  dramas,  where  we  see  at  once  a  nervous  style 
and  pathetic  sentiments.  The  former  piece  is  a  picture  of 
the  trials  of  virtue,  a  conflict  between  interests  and  pas- 
sions, wherein  love  and  friendship  play  important  parts. 
It  has  been  said  that  Diderot  has  borrowed  it  from  Gol- 
cloni ;  if  that  be  the  case,  the  copy  does  honour  to  the 
original ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of 
places,  where  the  author  mixes  his  philosophical  jargon 
•with  the  sentiments,  and  some  sentences  out  of  place,  the 
style  is  affecting  and  natural.  In  the  second  comedy,  a 
tender,  virtuous,  and  humane  father  appears,  whose  tran- 
quillity is  disturbed  by  the  parental  solicitudes,  inspired 
by  the  lively  and  impetuous  passions  of  his  children.  Tin's 
philosophical,  moral,  and  almost  tragical  comedy,  has 
produced  considerable  effect  on  several  theatres  of  Europe. 
The  dedication  to  the  princess  of  Nassau  Saarbruck,  is  a 
little  moral  tract,  of  a  singular  turn,  without  deviating 
from  nature ;  and  proves  that  the  author  possessed  a  great 
fund  of  moral  sentiments  and  philosophical  ideas.  At  the 
end  of  these  two  pieces,  published  together  under  the  title 
of  "  Theatre  de  M.  Diderot,"  are  dialogues  containing 
profound  reflections  and  novel  views  of  the  dramatic  art. 
In  his  plays  he  has  endeavoured  to  unite  the  characters  of 
Aristophanes  and  Plato ;  and  in  his  reflections  he  some- 
times displays  the  genius  of  Aristotle.  This  spirit  of  cri- 
ticism is  exhibited,  but  with  too  much  licence,  in  two  other 
works,  which  made  a  great  noise.  The  former  appeared 
in  1749,  12mo,  under  the  title  of  "  Letters  on  the  blind, 
for  the  use  of  those  who  sec."  The  free  notions  of  the  author 


DIDEROT.  5S 

in  this  work  cost  him  his  liberty,  and  he  underwent  a  six 
months  imprisonment  atVincennes.  Having  naturally  strong 
passions  and  a  haughty  spirit,  finding  himself  on].a  sudden 
deprived  of  liberty,  and  of  all  intercourse  with  human 
beings,  he  had  like  to  have  lost  his  reason  ;  and  to  prevent 
this,  his  keepers  were  obliged  to  allow  him  to  leave  his 
room,  to  take  frequent  walks,  and  to  receive  the  visits  of 
a  few  literary  men.  J.  J.  Rousseau,  at  that  time  his  friend, 
went  and  administered  consolation  to  him,  which  he  ought 
not  to  have  forgot.  The  letter  on  the  blind  was  followed 
by  another  on  the  "  deaf  and  dumb,  for  the  use  of  those 
who  can  hear  and  speak,"  1751,  2  vols.  12mo.  Under, 
this  title,  the  author  delivered  reflections  on  metaphysics, 
on  poetry,  on  eloquence,  on  music,  &c.  There  are  some 
good  things  in  this  essay,  mixed  with  others  superficial 
and  absurd.  Though  he  strives  to  be  perspicuous,  yet  he 
is  not  always  understood,  and  indeed,  of  all  "that  he  has 
composed  on  abstract  subjects,  it  has  been  said  that  he 
presents  a  chaos  on  which  the  light  shines  only  at  intervals. 
The  other  productions  of  Diderot  betray  the  same  defect 
of  clearness  and  precision,  and  the  same  uncouth  emphasis 
for  which  he  has  always  been  blamed.  The  principal  of 
them  are:  1.  "Principles  of  Moral  Philosophy,"  1745, 
12mo,  of  which  the  abbe  des  Fontaines  speaks  well,  though 
it  met  with  no  great  success.  It  was  our  philosopher's  fate 
to  write  a  great  deal,  and  not  to  leave  a  good  book,  or  at 
least  a  book  well  composed.  2.  "  History  of  Greece, 
translated  from  the  English  of  Stanyan,"  1743,  3  vols. 
12 mo,  an  indifferent  translation  of  an  indifferent  book. 

3.  "  Pieces  on  several  mathematical  subjects,"    1748,   8vo. 

4.  "  Reflections  on  the  Interpretation  of  Nature,"   1754, 
12mo.     This  interpreter  is  very  obscure.     5.   "  The  Code 
of  Nature,"1    1755,   I2mo,  which  is  certainly  not  the  code 
of   Christianity.     6.   "  The    -Sixth    Sense,"    1752,    12mo. 
7.  "  Of  Public  Education,"  one  of  that  swarm  of  publi- 
cutio.  ,  produced  by  the  appearance  of  Emilius,  and  the 
abolition  of  the  Jesuits  ;  but  some  of  his  ideas  in  this  work 
are  very  judicious,  and  would  be  highly  useful  in  the  exe- 
cution.     8.  "   Panegyric  on  Richardson,"    full  of  nerve 
and  animation.     9.   "  Life  of  Seneca."     This  was  his  last 
work;  and  ;',  is  one  of  those   which  may  be  perused  with 
most  pleasu       even  while  we  cannot  approve  the  judgments 
be  passes  on  beneca  and  other  celebrated  men. 


54  DIDEROT. 

The  abb£  Barruel  says  that  he  was  the  author  of  "  Sys- 
teme  de  la  Nature,"  which  is  usually  given  to  Robinet ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  if  he  was  not  the  author,  he  furnished 
hints,  and  revised  the  whole.  Naigeon,  his  friend  and 
disciple,  collected  and  published  his  works  in  15  vols.  8vo, 
at  Paris,  1797,  containing  some  articles  which  we  have 
not  noticed;  and  in  18 10  a  small  publication  appeared,  en- 
titled "  Diderotiana." 

It  is  remarkable  that  there  were  moments  in  which  Di- 
derot, notwithstanding  his  avowed  impiety,  seems  to  have 
been  compelled  by  the  force  of  truth,  to  pay  homage  to 
the  New  Testament.  An  acquaintance  found  him  one  day 
explaining  it  to  his  daughter,  with  all  the  apparent  se- 
riousness and  energy  of  a  believer.  On  expressing  his 
surprize,  Diderot  replied,  "  I  understand  your  meaning  ; 
but  after  all,  where  is  it  possible  to  find  better  lessons 
for  her  instruction  ?"  This  from  him  who  had  given  so 
many  lessons  of  a  different  kind,  and  had  been  a  more 
zealous  teacher  of  impiety  and  profligacy  than  perhaps  any 
man  in  France,  appears  somewhat  improbable;  yet  it  may 
coincide  with  a  report,  which  is  more  certain,  that  in  his 
latter  days  he  shewed  some  signs  of  contrition.  In  1784 
bis  health  began  visibly  to  decline;  and  one  of  his  domes- 
tics, perceiving  that  his  death  was  at  no  great  distance, 
acquainted  him  with  his  apprehensions,  and  addressed  him 
on  the  importance  of  preparing  for  another  world.  He 
heard  the  man  with  attention,  thanked  him  kindly,  acknow- 
ledged that  his  situation  required  seriousness,  and  promised 
to  weigh  well  what  he  had  said.  Some  time  after  this 
conversation  he  desired  a  priest  might  be  brought,  and 
the  same  domestic  introduced  one,  whom  Diderot  saw  se- 
veral times,  and  was  preparing  to  make  a  public  recanta- 
tion of  his  errors.  Condorcet,  and  his  other  philosophic 
friends,  now  crowded  about  him,  persuaded  him  that  he 
was  cheated,  that  his  case  was  not  so  dangerous  as  it  was 
said  to  be,  and  that  he  only  wanted  the  country  air  to  re- 
store him  to  health.  For  some  time  he  resisted  their  at- 
tempts to  bring  him  back  to  atheism,  but  was  at  last  pre- 
vailed upon  to  leave  Paris;  and  his  departure  being  kept 
secret,  he  was  concealed  in  the  country  till  July  2,  when 
he  died.  His  dead  body  was  then  secretly  brought  back 
to  Paris,  and  his  friends  eagerly  spread  the  report  that  he 
died  suddenly  on  rising  from  the  table,  without  the  least 
sign  of  repentance. 


DIDEROT.  55 

His  character,  from  what  has  been  said,  is  not  very  dif- 
ficult to   be   understood.      Some   of  his  countrymen  extol 
his  frankness,  his  candour,  his   disinterestedness,    his  in- 
tegrity ;  while  others  represent  him  as  artful,   interested, 
and  concealing  iiis  cunning-  under  a  cheerful  air,  and  some- 
times   >ven  a   rough  behaviour  ;  which  we  confess  appears 
more  probable,  as  the  genuine  result  of  his  principles.    To- 
wards the  laiter  part  of  uis  life  he  hurt  himself  in  th.:  public 
opinion,  by  taking  up  too  warmly  the  pretended  ahVo-Ls  he 
imagined  to   exist  against   him  in  the  "  Confessions"   of 
his  old  friend  J.  J.  Rousseau  ;  and  by  this  conduct  left  un- 
favourable impressions  both  of  his  heart  and  his  understand- 
ing.    This   Rousseau,  whom  he  so  much  decries,  praises 
him  in  the  second  manuscript  part  of  his  Confessions ;   but 
says  in  one  of  his  letters,   that  "  though  naturally  kind, 
i  of  a  generous  disposition,  Diderot  had  the  unhappy 
;>ensity  to  misinterpret  the  speeches  and  actions  of  his 
:ids;  and   that  the  most  ingenuous  explanations  only 
furnished  the  subtilty  of  his  invention   with  new  interpre- 
tations against  them."     The  enthusiasm  Diderot  displays  in 
some   of  his  productions,   appeared   in    the  circle  of  his, 
friends,  on  every  topic  of  discourse.      He  spoke  with  ra- 
pidity, with  vehemence,  and  the  turns  of  his  phrases  were 
often  poignant  and  original.     It  has  been  said,  that  nature 
by  mistake  made  him  a  metaphysician,  and  not  a  poet  ;  but 
though  he  was  often  a  poet  in  prose,  he  has  left  some  verses 
which  prove  him  to  have  had  but  little  talent  for  poetry.  The 
intrepid  philosophy  of  which  he  boasted,  affected  always  to 
brave  the  shafts  of  criticism  ;  and  his  numerous  censors  were 
unable  to  cure  him  either  of  his  taste  for  a  system  of  meta- 
physics scarcely  intelligible,  or  of  his  fondness  for  exclama- 
tions and  apostrophes  which  prevailed  in  his  conversation  and 
in  his  writings.    He  married,  and  we  are  told  by  his  friends, 
was  in  domestic  life  sensible  and  obliging  ;  easily  provoked, 
but  as  easily  calmed  ;  yielding  to  transient  ebullitions  of 
temper,    but  generally  having  it  under  command.     The 
goodness  or  badness  of  his  temper,  however,  as  affecting 
his  relatives,  is  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  compared 
to  the  more  extensive  mischief  which  arose  from  his  writings 
as  an  infidel,  and  his  example  as  a  profligate.     Of  the  lat- 
ter we  need   no  more  decided  proof  than  the  extract  from 
one  of  his  letters  to  Wilkes,  published  by  lord  Teignmouth 
in  his  "  Life  of  Sir  William  Jones."     La  Harpe,   to  whose 
"  Lyceum"  we  may  refer  for  an    impartial    account    of 


59  DIDEROT. 

Diderot,  thinks  very  justly  that  the  principal  cause  of  the 
success  of  the  French  infidels,  in  gaining  readers  and  fol- 
lowers, arose  from  their  enlisting  the  passions  on  their  side. 
Such,  says  he,  is  the  basis  of  their  system,  the  general 
spirit  of  their  sect,  and  the  principle  of  their  success.  The 
method  is  not  very  honourable,  but  with  a  little  address  it 
is  almost  sure  to  succeed,  at  least  for  a  time,  for  nothing 
is  more  easy  than  to  pass  off  as  a  theory,  a  corruption  which 
already  exists  as  a  fashion.1 

DIDOT  (FRANCIS  AMBROSE),  an  eminent  French  printer, 
who  deserves  a  more  satisfactory  article  than  the  French 
biographers  have  as  yet  enabled  us  to  give  him,  was  born 
at  Paris  in  1730,  and  was  the  son  of  a  printer  and  book- 
seller, who  provided  him  with  an  excellent  classical  edu- 
cation before  he  introduced  him  into  business.  Full  of 
enthusiasm  for  the  advancement  of  the  art  of  printing, 
young  Didot  determined  to  rival  those  celebrated  printers, 
Joachim  Ibarra  of  Spain,  and  Baskerville  of  England,  and 
lived  to  surpass  both.  He  soon  brought  his  press  to  a  state 
of  excellence  unattained  by  any  of  his  contemporaries; 
and  extended  his  skill  to  every  branch  connected  with  it. 
Among  the  number  of  improvements  perfected  by  his 
exertions,  is  the  construction  of  mills  for  making  fine 
paper,  which  he  assisted  not  only  by  his  zeal  and  activity, 
but  by  pecuniary  contribution.  He  also  invented  a  press 
by  which  the  workman  is  enabled  to  print,  equally  and  at 
once  the  whole  extent  of  a  sheet ;  and  he  was  the  inventor  of 
many  other  machines  and  instruments  now  commonly  used 
in  printing  offices,  all  which  have  powerfully  contributed 
to  the  modern  advancement  of  the  typographical  art.  The 
elegant  editions  of  the  classics  published  by  order  of  Louis 
XIV.  for  the  education  of  the  Dauphin,  were  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Didots1  press,  as  well  as  the  collection  of  ro- 
mances called  the  D'Artois,  in  64  vols.  18mo  ;  the  Theatri- 
cal Selections  by  Corneille,  the  works  of  Racine,  Tele- 
machus,  Tasso's  Jerusalem,  two  superb  Bibles,  and  a 
multiplicity  of  other  inestimable  works,  each  of  which,  on 
its  publication,  seemed  to  make  nearer  approaches  to  per- 
fection. Didot  sedulously  endeavoured  to  unite  in  his 
family  every  talent  auxiliary  to  the  printing  art;  one  of  his 

1  Diet.  Hist. — Gleig's  Supplement  to  the  Encycl.  Britannica. — Earruel's  Me- 
moirs of  Jacobinism,  vol.1,  p.  169,  350,  &c. — Lord  Teigqinouth's  Life  ot 
W.  Jones,  vol.  I.  p.  314. 


D  I  D  O  T.  57 

sons  became  a  celebrated  type-founder ;  and  the  voice  of 
fame  announces  the  superior  rank  which  they  both  de- 
servedly hold  among  the  printers  of  the  age.  The  fond 
father  delighted  to  observe  that  he  was  excelled  by  his 
children  ;  while  they  dutifully  ascribed  their  success  to  the 
force  of  his  instruction,  and  the  benefit  of  his  example. 
The  life  of  JDidot  was  the  life  of  honour  ;  his  abilities  were 
universally  known  and  respected ;  and  the  following  anec- 
dote will  prove  the  goodness  of  his  heart :  in  one  of  his 
journeys  to  the  paper  mills  of  Anonay,  he  met  an  artist 
who  had  introduced  in  France  an  improvement  in  the  ap- 
plication of  cylinders,  &c.  and  believing  that  his  ingenuity 
merited  reward,  exerted  all  his  interest  with  government; 
but  unfortunately,  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  succeeding, 
the  artist  died,  leaving  two  girls  in  the  helpless  state  of 
infancy.  Didot  took  the  orphans  in  his  arms,  proclaimed 
himself  their  father,  and  kept  his  word.  At  the  age  of 
seventy-three,  Didot  read  over  five  times,  and  carefully 
corrected,  before  it  was  sent  to  the  press,  every  sheet  of 
the  stereotype  edition  of  Montague,  printed  by  his  sons. 
At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  was  pursuing  this  fa- 
tiguing occupation.  The  correctness  of  the  text  will  there- 
fore render  this  work  particularly  valuable  among  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  modern  press.  About  eighteen  months 
previous  to  his  death,  he  projected  an  alphabetical  index 
of  every  subject  treated  upon  in  Montague's  Essays.  He 
had  collected  all  his  materials,  at  which  he  laboured  un- 
ceasingly ;  and  perhaps  too  strict  an  application  to  this 
favourite  study  accelerated  the  death  of  this  eminent  artist 
and  benevolent  man,  which  took  place  July  10,  1804. 
His  business  is  still  successfully  carried  on  by  his  sons, 
Peter  and  Firmia  Didot.  The  reputation  of  the  elder 
Didot  was  much  assisted  by  the  labours  of  his  brother, 
Peter  Francis,  who  died  in  1795,  and  to  whom  we  owe 
the  beautiful  editions  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  fol. ;  of  Te- 
lemachus,  4 to  ;  the  "  Tableau  de  1'empire  Ottoman,"  &c.' 
DIDYMUS,  of  Alexandria,  surnamed"  Bowels  of  Brass,'* 
from  his  indefatigable  application  to  study,  lived  in  the 
reign  of  Augustus,  and  is  said  by  Seneca  to  have  written 
4000  treatises,  not  one  of  which  has  descended  to  our 
times  ;  but  some  scholia  on  Homer  are  attributed  to  him, 
xvhich  Schrevelius  has  joined  to  an  edition  of  that  poet, 

»  Diet.  Hist. 


58  DIDYMUS. 

Amsterdam,  1656,  2  vols.  4to,  and  they  occur  in  some 
other  editions,  but  they  appear  to  be  the  work  of  a  later 
author.1 

DIDYMUS,  of  Alexandria,  was  an  ecclesiastical  writer 
of  the  fourth  century,  who  supplied  a  very  important  de- 
fect by  dint  of  genius  and  application.  Jerome  and  Ruf- 
finus  assure  us  that  though  he  lost  his  eyes  at  five  years  of 
age,  when  he  had  scarcely  learned  to  read,  yet  he  applied 
himself  so  earnestly  to  study,  that  he  not  only  attained  in 
a  high  degree  grammar,  rhetoric,  logic,  arithmetic,  music, 
and  the  other  arts,  but  even  was  able  to  comprehend  some 
of  the  most  difficult  theorems  in  mathematics.  He  was 
particularly  attached  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures ;  and 
was  selected  as  the  most  proper  person  to  fill  the  chair  in 
the  famous  divinity-school  at  Alexandria.  His  high  re- 
putation drew  a  great  number  of  scholars  to  him  ;  among 
the  principal  of  whom  were  Jerome,  Ruffinus,  Palladius, 
and  Isidorus.  He  read  lectures  with  wonderful  facility, 
answered  upon  the  spot  all  questions  and  difficulties  re- 
lating to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  refuted  the  objections 
which  were  raised  against  the  orthodox  faith.  He  was  the 
author  of  a  great  number  of  works  of  which  Jerome  has 
preserved  the  titles  in  his  catalogue  of  ecclesiastical  writers; 
and  of  many  more  whose  titles  are  not  known.  We  have 
yet  remaining  a  Latin  translation  of  his  book  upon  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  Jerome,  who  was  the 
translator ;  and  which  is  perhaps  the  best  treatise  the 
Christian  world  ever  saw  upon  the  subject.  Whatever  has 
been  said  since  that  time,  in  defence  of  the  divinity  and 
personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  seems,  in  substance,  to  be 
foand  in  this  book.  His  other  works  extant  are,  a  treatise 
against  the  Manichees,  in  the  original  Greek,  and  "  Enar- 
rations  upon  the  seven  catholic  epistles  in  Latin,"  and  in 
the  Greek  Chains  are  fragments  of  some  of  his  commen- 
taries. J.  C.  \Volff,  of  Hamburgh,  published  a  large  col- 
lection of  notes  and  observations  of  Didymus  upon  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  taken  from  a  manuscript  Greek  chain,  at 
Oxford.  See  Wolfii  Anecdot.  Graec.  1724.  Didymus 
also  wrote  commentaries  upon  Origen's  books  of  Prin- 
ciples, which  he  defended  very  strenuously  against  all 
opposers.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Origen,  used  to  con- 
sider him  as  his  master,  and  adopted  many  of  his  senti- 

1  Vossius  Hist.  Grace. — Moreri. — Saxii  Onomast. 


D  I  D  Y  M  U  S.  59 

ments  ;  on  which  account  he  was  condemned  by  the  fifth 
general  council.  He  died  in  the  year  395,  aged  eighty- 
five  years.1 

DIDYMUS,  another  of  the  name,  was  an  eminent  mu- 
sician of   Alexandria,    and,    according   to   Suidas,  cotem- 
porary   in  the   first   century  with   the  emperor   Nero,  by 
whom  he  was  much  honoured  and  esteemed.     This  proves 
him  to  have  been  younger  than  Aristoxenus,  and  more  an- 
cient than  Ptolemy,   though  some  have  imagined  him  to 
have  preceded  Aristoxenus.     He  wrote  upon  grammar  and 
medicine,  as  well  as  music ;  but  his  works  are  all  lost,  and 
every  thing  we  know  at  present  of  his  barmonical  doctrines 
is    from    Ptolemy,    who,    by  disputing,    preserved    them. 
However,    this   author   confesses   him   to    have  been   well 
versed  in  the  canon  and  harmonic  divisions  ;    and  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  testimony,  even  of  his  antagonist,  he 
must  have  been  not  only  an  able  theorist  in  music,  but  a 
man  of   considerable   learning.      As    this    musician    pre- 
ceded Ptolemy,  and  was  the  first  who  introduced  the  minor 
tone  into  the  scale,  and,  consequently,  the   practical  ma- 
jor 3d  -f,  which  harmonized  the  whole  system,  and  pointed 
out  the  road  to  counterpoint ;  an  honour  that  most  critics 
have  bestowed  on  Ptolemy,  he  seems  to  have  a  better  title 
to  the  invention  of  modern  harmony,  or  music  in  parts, 
than  Guido,  who  appears  to  have  adhered,  both  in  theory 
and  practice,   to  the  old  division   of  the  scale  into  major 
tones  and  limmas.     "  The  best  species  of  diapason,"  says 
Doni,  "  and  that  which  is  the  most  replete  with  fine  har- 
mony, and  chiefly  in  use  at  present,  was  invented  by  Didy- 
mus.     His  method  was  this  :   after  the  major  semitone  E  F 
T-f,  he  placed  the  minor  tone  in  the  ratio  of  V°,  between 
F  G,  and  afterwards  the  major  tone  •§  between  G  A  ;  but 
Ptolemy,  for   the   sake    of  innovation,  placed  the   major 
tone  where  Didymus  placed  the  minor."      Ptolemy,  how- 
ever, in  speaking  of  Didymus  and  his  arrangement,  objects 
to  it  as  contrary  to  the  judgment  of  the  ear,  which  requires 
the  major  tone  below  the  minor.     The  ear  certainly  deter- 
mines so  with  us,  and  it   is  therefore  probable,   that  in 
Ptolemy's  time  the  major  key  was  gaining  ground.     Upon 
the   whole,    however,  it   appears  that  these  authors  only 
differ  in  the  order,  not  the  quality  of  intervals.2 

1  Cave. — Lardner's  Works. — Dupin.— Moreri. — Milner's   Cb.    Hist,  vol.  II. 
p.  250. — Saxii  Onomast. 

8  Burney's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  I.— Hawkins's  Ditto. 


60  D  I  E  C  M  A  N. 

DIECMAN  (JOHN),  a  Lutheran  divine,  was  born  June 
30,  1647,  at  Stade  in  the  duchy  of  Bremen,  where  his  fa- 
ther was  also  a  clergyman.  He  studied  at  Giessen,  Jena, 
and  Wirtemberg,  at  which  last  university  he  took  his  mas- 
ter's degree.  In  1672  he  finished  his  course  of  study,  and 
iu  1675  was  appointed  rector  of  Stade.  In  1683  he  was 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  superintendant  of  the  duchies  of 
Bremen  and  Ferden,  and  about  that  time  was  honoured 
with  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  by  the  university  of 
Kiel.  In  1712,  the  war  obliging  him  to  leave  Stade,  he 
went  to  Bremen  ;  but  after  three  years  returned,  and  was 
re-instated  in  his  office  at  Stade,  where  he  died  July  4, 
1720.  He  wrote,  1.  "  De  naturalismo  cum  aliorum,  turn 
maxime  Joannis  Bodini,  ex  opere  ejus  manuscripto  anec- 
doto,  de  abditis  rerum  subliinium  arcanis,  schediasnaa," 
Leipsic,  1684,  12mo.  This  is  a  very  able  answer  to  the 
impious  freedoms  of  Bodin  (See  BODIN).  2.  "  Specimen 
glossarii  Latino-theodisci."  3.  "  Dissertationes  de  spar- 
sione  florum."  4.  "  De  dissensu  ecclesiae  orientalis  et 
Latinae  circa  purgatorium."  5.  "  Enneacles  animadver- 
sionum  in  diversa  Joca  annalium  cardinalis  Baronii,"  &c. 
He  wrote  also  various  tracts  in  the  German  language,  col- 
lected in  a  volume,  Hamburgh,  1709,  4to.  But  he  is, 
perhaps,  better  known  as  the  publisher  of  an  edition  of 
the  Stade  Bible,  which  is  a  revision  of  Luther's  German 
Bible. ! 

DIEMEN  (ANTHONY  VAN),  a  governor  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  settlements,  was  born  at  Kuilenburg.  He  went, 
in  early  life,  in  a  low  military  capacity  to  India,  where  he 
was  chiefly  employed  in  writing  petitions  for  the  soldiers  ; 
but  being  afterwards  promoted  to  a  post  under  govern- 
ment, which  required  some  skill  in  accounts,  he  became  a 
merchant,  and  afterwards  accountant-general  of  the  Dutch 
settlements  in  India.  In  1625,  he  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  supreme  council,  and  in  1631  he  returned  to 
Holland  as  commander  of  the  India  fleet.  He  remained 
but  a  few  months  in  Europe,  and  when  he  went  back  to 
India  many  important  offices  devolved  on  him.  In  1642, 
he  sent  out  two  ships  to  explore  the  unknown  countries  to 
the  south,  part  of  which,  forming  the  southern  extremity 
of  New  Holland,  was,  in  honour  of  him,  distinguished  by 
the  appellation  of  "  Van  Diemen's  Land."  He  died  in 

'  Moreri. 


D  I  E  M  E  N.  61 

April  1645,  having  held,  with  much  reputation,  the  su- 
preme power  in  India  upwards  of  nine  years.  Van  Die- 
men's  land  is  an  island  in  the  form  of  an  oblong  square, 
about  I  GO  British  miles  long,  by  half  that  breadth,  sepa- 
rated by  a  strait,  or  rather  channel,  more  than  30  leagues 
wide,  called,  in  recent  maps,  Bass's  strait,  and  containing 
a  chain  of  small  islands,  running  N.  and  S.  from  New 
Holland.  From  the  time  it  was  originally  discovered,  says 
capt.  Cook,  it  had  escaped  all  farther  notice  by  European 
navigators,  till  captain  Furneaux  touched  at  it  in  March 
1773  ;  but  he  did  not  know  at  that  time  that  capt.  Marion, 
after  having  remained  here  for  some  time,  sailed  from 
thence  on  the  10th  of  March,  1772.  It  was  again  visited 
by  captain  Cook  in  January  1777. l 

DIEMERBROECK  (IsBRAND,  DE),  was  born  at  Mont- 
fort,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Utrecht,  Dec.  13,  1609. 
After  taking  his  degree  of  doctor  in  medicine  at  Angers,  he 
went  to  Nimeguen  in  1636,  and  continued  there,  through 
that  and  the  following  years,  practising  during  the  plague, 
which  all  that  time  raged  with  great  .violence.  This  fur- 
nished him  with  observations  on  the  nature  and  treatment 
of  that  disease,  which  he  published  at  Amsterdam,  in  1644, 
4to ;  but  as  he  pursued  the  injudicious  plan  of  keeping  the 
patients  in  close  apartments,  and  gave  them  heating  medi- 
cines, his  practice  was  probably  not  so  successful  as  his 
book,  which  has  passed  through  many  editions.  In  1642 
he  went  to  Utrecht,  ar>d  was  made  professor  extraordinary 
in  medicine.  His  lectures  in  medicine,  and  in  anatomy, 
procured  him  great  credit,  and  were  no  less  useful  to  the 
university,  drawing  thither  a  great  conflux  of  pupils.  In 
1651,  he  was  made  ordinary  professor;  he  was  also  twice 
appointed  rector  of  the  university,  and  continued  in  high 
esteem  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened  Nov.  17, 
1674,  when  his  funeral  oration  was  pronounced  by  the 
learned  Graevius.  Although  an  Arminian  in  his  religious 
tenets,  the  magistrates  dispensed  in  his  case  with  the  laws 
which  excluded  persons  of  that  persuasion  from  attaining 
academical  honours.  In  1649  he  published  "  O ratio  de 
reducenda  ad  Medicinam  Chirurgia;"  and  in  1664,  Dispu- 
tationum  practicarum  pars  prima  et  secunda,  de  morbis 
Capitis  et  Thoracis,"  12mo,  in  which  Haller  says,  there 
are  some  curious  and  useful  observations.  His  "  Anatoine 

-1  Cook's  Voyages. — Kees's  Cyclopaedia* 


62  DIEMEBRIIOECK. 

Corporis  Humani,"  which  has  passed  through  numerous 
editions,  was  first  published  in  1672,  4to,  a  compilation, 
interspersed  with  some  original  observations ;  but  the  plates 
are  neither  very  elegant  nor  very  correct.  In  1G85,  his 
works  were  collected  and  published  tog-ether,  at  Utrecht, 
under  the  title  of  "  Opera  Omnia,"  by  his  son  Timanis  de 
Diemerbroeck,  in  folio.  This  was  reprinted  in  two  volumes, 
4to,  and  published  at  Geneva  in  1687.  It  contains,  be- 
sides the  works  above  named,  "  A  treatise  on  the  Measles 
and  Small-pox,  a  century  of  observations  in  medicine  and 
surgery,  and  a  third  part  of  disputations  containing  ac- 
counts of  diseases  of  the  lower  belly."  ' 

DIEPENBECK  (ABRAHAM  VAN),  an  artist,  was  born  at 
Bois-le-Duc,  in  1607,  and  was  at  first  a  painter  on  glass, 
in  which  he  was  accounted  excellent,  and  even  superior 
to  any  of  his  time  ;  yet  he  discontinued  it,  on  account  of 
a  variety  of  discouraging  accidents  that  happened  to  him, 
in  his  preparations  for  that  kind  of  work.  He  studied  for 
some  time  in  Italy,  and  found  there  good  employment  as  a 
glass  painter;  but  he  turned  his  thoughts  entirely  to  paint- 
ing in  oil ;  and,  to  obtain  the  best  knowledge  of  colouring, 
entered  himself  in  the  school  of  Rubens,  where  he  im- 
proved exceedingly,  and  was  considered  as  one  of  the  good 
disciples  of  that  great  master;  yet,  notwithstanding  the 
opportunity  he  had  of  refining  his  national  taste,  during 
his  residence  in  Italy,  he  never  altered  his  original  style 
of  design  ;  for  all  his  subsequent  compositions  were  too 
much  loaded,  and  not  very  correct.  His  invention  was 
fertile,  and  shewed  genius,  and  his  execution  was  full  of 
spirit;  but  it  was  no  inconsiderable  prejudice  to  him,  to 
have  been  engaged  in  such  a  number  of  designs  as  were 
perpetually  thrown  in  his  way,  and  which  he  was  obliged 
to  strike  out  in  a  hurry,  without  competent  time  allowed 
for  judgment  to  revise,  digest,  and  correct  them.  Designs 
for  title-pages,  for  theses,  and  devotional  subjects,  en- 
grossed the  greatest  part  of  his  time  and  his  labour ;  or 
designs  for  the  decoration  of  books  ;  of  which  kind,  that 
called  the  "Temple  of  the  Muses,"  1662,  afforded  him 
great  employment,  and  added  much  honour  to  the  artist, 
merely  as  a  designer.  His  designs,  indeed,  of  the  Belle- 
rophon,  the  Orpheus,  the  Dioscuri,  the  Leander,  the  Ixion, 
Tantalus,  and  Sisyphus,  have  never  been  excelled  by  the 

1  Moreri.— Buvman's  Trajectam  Erudition — Foppem  Bibl.  Beljj. 


DIEPENBECK.  63 

conception  of  the  best  masters  of  the  best  schools.  He 
was  one  of  the  few  scholars  of  Rubens  that  came  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  was  much  employed  by  William  Cavendish, 
duke  of  Newcastle,  whose  managed  horses  he  drew  from 
the  life  ;  from  whence  were  engraved  the  cuts  that  adorn 
that  nobleman's  book  of  horsemanship.  Several  of  the 
original  pictures  are,  or  very  lately  were,  in  the  hall  at 
Welbeck.  Diepenbeck  drew  views  of  the  duke's  seats  in 
Nottinghamshire  and  Derbyshire,  and  portraits  of  the 
duke,  duchess,  and  his  children,  and  gave  designs  for  se- 
veral plates  prefixed  to  the  works  of  both  their  graces.  At 
Cassiobery  is  the  story  of  Dido  and  ^Eneas  by  him. l 

DIEST  (ABRAHAM  VAN),  another  artist,  known  in  this 
country,  was  born  at  the  Hague,  in  1655  ;  but  spent  the 
greatest  part  of  his  life  in  England,  to  which  he  came  in 
his  seventeenth  year,  and  where  he  gradually  rose  into 
considerable  credit,  having  been  well  instructed  by  his 
father,  who  was  a  skilful  painter  of  sea-pieces.  His  taste 
of  landscape  was  formed  almost  entirely  (as  he  often  de- 
clared) by  designing  the  lovely  views  in  the  western  parts 
of  England,  and  along  the  coasts.  Some  of  his  pictures 
have  great  clearness  and  transparence  in  the  colouring,  and 
a  peculiar  tenderness  in  the  distances  ;  they  are  truly  fine 
in  the  skies,  have  an  uncommon  freedom  in  the  clouds, 
and  an  agreeable  harmony  through  the  whole.  But,  as  he 
was  often  obliged  to  paint  for  low  prices,  there  is  a  great 
disproportion  in  his  works.  The  narrowness  of  his  circum- 
stances depressed  his  talent,  and  rendered  him  inattentive 
to  fame,  being  solely  anxious  to  provide  for  his  family. 
Had  he  been  so  happy  as  to  receive  a  proper  degree  of 
encouragement,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  might  have 
approached  near  to  those  of  the  first  rank  in  his  profession. 
The  figures  in  his  landscapes  were  frequently  inserted  by 
the  younger  Adrian  Coloni,  his  brother-in-law.  He  be- 
gan to  engrave  a  set  of  prints,  after  views  from  his  own 
designs,  but  the  gout  put  an  end  to  his  life  in  170-1,  in  the 
forty- ninth  year  of  his  age.  Lord  Orford,  who  has  a  por- 
trait of  him,  thinks  he  was  not  much  encouraged  in  Eng- 
land, except  by  Granville  earl  of  Bath,  for  whom  he  drew 
several  views  and  ruins  in  the  West  of  England.2 

DIETERIC  (JOHN  CONRAD),  the  son  of  John  Conrad, 
first  minister  of  the  church  of  Butzbach,   and  afterwards 

1  Pilkington. — Argenville. — Descamps.— Waipole's  Anecdotes. 
*  Pilk    t  ju.—  Walpole. 


64  D  I  E  T  E  R  I  C. 

superintendent  of  Giessen,  and  nephew  of  Conrad  Dieterk, 
another  learned   German    divine,  was  born   at  Butzbach, 
Jan.  19,    1612.     After  having  studied  at  Marpurg,  Jena, 
and  Strasburgh,  he   maintained  a  thesis,   in    1635,   under 
professor  Dilher,  on  the  utility  of  profane  authors  in  the 
study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     He  then   went  into  Hol- 
land, where  he  became  acquainted  with  the  learned  Vos- 
sius,    Boxborn,    Barlaeus,    Heinsius,    and    other    eminent 
scholars.     Thence  he  travelled  into  Denmark  and  Prussia, 
remaining    some    time    at    Konigsberg.     On    his    return, 
George  II.  landgrave  of  Hesse,  appointed  him  professor  of 
Greek  and  history  in  1639.     From   the  observations  which 
he  left  on  the  aphorisms  of  Hippocrates,  he  appears  to 
have  in  some  early  part  of  his  life  studied  medicine.      On 
certain  disputes  arising  between  the  princes  of  the  house  of 
Hesse,  prince  George  invited  him  to  his  court  to  arrange 
the  papers  and  documents  preserved  in  the  archives.     In 
1647,   he  obtained   leave  to  go  to  Hamburgh,   where  he 
remained  until  these  family-disputes  were  adjusted.     In 
1653,  when   the  college  of  Giessen   was   founded,  which 
had  brought  many  visitors  from  Marpnrg,  he  became  one 
of  the  professors,  and  remained  in  this  office,  with  great 
reputation,  until  his  death  in    1669.     The  letters   which 
John   Christian,   baron  of  Boinebourg,  wrote  to  him,  and 
which  were  printed  in  1  703,  evince  the  high  esteem  which 
that  nobleman  entertained  for  him.     He  was  editor  of  a 
work   written    by  Henry   of  Bunau,     entitled     "  Historia 
imperatorum  Germanicorum  familise  Saxonies,   Henrici  I. 
Ottonis  magni  ;    Ottonis  II.    Ottonis  III.    et  Henrici  II." 
Giessen,  1666,  4to.     His  own  works  are,   1.  "  Breviarium 
historicum    et    geographicum."      2.    "  Breviarium  ponti- 
ficum."     3.  "  Discursus  historico-politicus  de  perigratione 
studiorum,"   Marpurg,   1640,   4to.     4.   "  Graecia  exulans, 
seu  de  infelicitate  superioris  sseculi  in  Greecarum  littera- 
rum    ignoratione."        5.    "   Antiquitates    llomanai."      6. 
"  latraeum  Hippocraticum,"    Ulm,    1661,   4to.     7.   "Bre- 
viarium ha3reticorurn  et  conciliorum."      8.   "  Index  in  He- 
siodum."       9.     "  Lexicon    Etymologico-Graecum."       10. 
"  Antiquitates  Biblicue,  in  quibus  decreta,  prophetiae,  ser- 
mones,    consuetudincs,    ritusque    ac   dicta  veteris  Testa- 
menti  de  rebus  Judaeorum  et  Gentilium,  qua  sacris,    qua 
profanis,  expenduntur;  ex  editione  Joannis-Justi  Pistorii," 
Giessen,  1671,  folio,   which,  with  the  following,  was  post- 
humous,    11.  "Antiquitates  Nov.  Testamenti,  seu  illus- 


DIEU.  65 

trartiefltum  Nov.  Test,  sive  Lexicon  philologico-theologi- 
cum  Grseco-Latinum,"  Francfort,  1680,  folio.  * 

DIELJ  (LEWIS  DE),  protestant  minister  of  Leyden,  and 
professor  in  the  Walloon  college  of  that  city,  a  man  of 
great  abilities,  and  uncommonly  versed  in  the  oriental  lan- 
guages, was  born  April  7,  1590,  at  Flushing,  where  his 
father  Daniel  de  Dieu  was  minister.  Daniel  was  a  man  of 
great  merit,  and  a  native  of  Brussels,  where  he  had  been 
a  minister  twenty:two  years.  He  removed  from  thence  in 
1585,  to  serve  the  church  at  Flushing,  after  the  duke  of 
Parma  had  taken  Brussels.  He  understood  Greek  and  the 
oriental  languages,  and  could  preach  with  the  applause  of 
his  auditors  in  German,  Italian,  French,  and  English.  The 
churches  of  the  Netherlands  sent  him,  in  1588,  over  to 
queen  Elizabeth,  to  inform  her  of  the  designs  of  the  duke 
of  Parma,  who  secretly  made  her  proposals  of  peace,  while 
the  king  of  Spain  was  equipping  a  formidable  fleet  against 
England. — Lewis,  his  son,  studied  under  Daniel  Colonius, 
his  uncle  by  his  mother's  side,  who  was  professor  at  Ley- 
den  in  the  Walloon  college.  He  was  two  years  minister 
of  the  French  church  at  Flushing;  and  might  have  been 
court-minister  at  the  Hague,  if  his  natural  aversion  to  the 
manners  of  a  court  had  not  restrained  him  from  accepting 
that  place.  There  are  some  circumstances  relating  to  that 
affair  which  deserve  to  be  remembered.  Prince  Maurice, 
being  in  Zealand,  heard  Lewis  de  Dieu  preach,  who  was 
yet  but  a  student ;  and  some  time  after  sent  for  him  to 
court.  The  young  man  modestly  excused  himself,  de- 
claring, that  he  designed  to  satisfy  his  conscience  in  the 
exercise  of  his  ministry,  and  to  censure  freely  what  he 
should  find  deserved  censure  ;  a  liberty,  he  said,  which 
courts  did  not  care  to  allow.  Besides,  he  thought  the  post 
which  was  offered  him  more  proper  for  a  man  in  years  than 
a  student.  The  prince,  conscious  that  he  was  in  the  right, 
commended  his  modesty  and  prudence.  He  was  called  to 
Leyden  in  1619  to  teach,  with  his  uncle  Colonius,  in  the 
Walloon  college  ;  and  he  discharged  the  duty  of  that  em- 
ployment with  great  diligence  till  his  death,  which  hap- 
pened in  1642.  He  refused  the  post,  which  was  offered 
him,  of  divinity-professor  in  the  new  university  of  Utrecht; 
but,  if  he  had  lived  long  enough,  he  would  have  been  ad- 
vanced to  the  same  post  in  that  of  Leyden.  He  married 

1  Moreri. — Freheri  Theatrum, — Morhoff  Polyhist. — Saxii  Onomast, 

VOL.  XII.  F 


6u  DIE  U. 

the  daughter  of  a  counsellor  of  Flushing,  by  whom  he  had 
eleven  children. 

Father  Simon  speaks  advantageously  of  the  writings  of 
Lewis  de  Dieu  in  the  35th  chapter  of  his  "  Critical  History 
of  the  Commentators  on  the  New  Testament."  The  esti- 
mation in  which  he  was  held  by  archbishop  Usher,  appears 
from  the  Letters  of  that  excellent  prelate,  published  by 
Dr.  Parr.  The  titles  of  his  learned  writings  are,  1. 
"  Compendium  Grammatica;  Hebraicae,"  Leyden,  1626, 
4to.  2.  "  Apocalypsis  S.  Joanna  Syriace  ex  manuscripto 
exemplari  bibliothecce  Jos.  Scaligeri  edita,  &c."  Leyden, 
1627,  4to.  3.  "  Grammatica  trilinguis,  Hebraica,  Syriaca, 
et  Chaldaica,"  ibid.  1628,  4to.  4.  "Animadversiones  in 
quatuor  evangelia,"  ibid.  1631,  4to.  5.  "  Animadversiones 
in  Acta  Apostolorum,"  ibid.  1634,  4to.  6.  "  His- 
toria  Christi  et  S.  Petri  Persice  conscripta,  &c."  ibid. 
J639,  4to.  7.  "  Rudimenta  linguae  Persictc,"  ibid.  1639, 
4to.  8.  "  Animadversiones  in  Epistolam  ad  Romanes  et 
reliquas  Epistolas,"  ibid.  1646,  4to.  9.  "Animadversiones 
in  omnes  libros  Veteris  Testamenti,"  ibid.  1648.  10. 
"  Critica  Sacra,  sive  animadversiones  in  loca  qucedam  diffi- 
ciliora  Veteris  et  Novi  Testamenti,"  Amst.  1693,  folio.  1 1. 
"  Grammatica  Linguarum  Orientalium  ex  recensione  Da- 
vidis  Clodii,"  Francfort,  1683,  4to,  in  which  the  editor 
has  collected  all  that  De  Dieu  had  published  on  the  gram- 
mar of  the  Eastern  languages.  12.  "  Aphorismi  Theo- 
logi,"  Utrecht,  1693.  This  and  the  two  following  were 
edited  by  professor  Leydecker  of  Utrecht.  13.  "  Traite 
co'ntre  1'avarice,  par  Louis  de  Dieu,  qui  est  le  seul  de  tous 
ses  ouvrages  Flamans  qu'il  ait  souhaite  qu'on  publiat."  De- 
venter,  1695,  8vo.  14.  "  Khetorica  Sacra."1 

DIGBY  (Sir  EVERARD),  an  English  gentleman,  memo- 
rable for  the  share  he  had  in  the  powder-plot,  and  his  suf- 
fering on  that  account,  was  descended  from  an  ancient 

O  * 

family,  and  born  some  time  in  1581.  His  father,  Everard 
Digby,  of  Drystoke  in  Rutlandshire,  esq.  a  person  of  great 
worth  and  learning,  was  educated  in  St.  John's  college, 
Cambridge,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A.  and  pub- 
lished several  treatises,  some  on  learned,  others  on  curious 
subjects:  as,  1.  "  Theoria  analytica  viam  ad  mouarchiam 
scientiarum  demonstrans,"  1579,  4to.  2.  "  De  duplici 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Niceron,  vol.  XV. — Foppen  Bibl.  Belg. — Moreri. — Blount's 
Censura.— Parr's  Life  and  Letters  of  Archbishop  Usher,  pp.  413,  461,464,  415, 
480,  481,  486,  4S7,  490,  596.— Saxij  Onomast. 


D  I  G  B  Y.  67 

methodo  libri   duo,    Rami  methodum   refutantes,"    1580, 
8vo.      3.  "  De  arte  natandi,  libri  duo,"    1587.      4.  "A 
dissuasive  from  taking  away  the  goods  and  livings  of  the 
church,"  4to.     His  son,  the  subject  of  this  article,    was 
educated  with  great  care,  but  unfortunately  under  the  tui- 
tion of  some  popish  priests,  who  gave  him  those  impres- 
sions which  his  father,  if  he  had  lived,  might  probably  have 
prevented ;    but  he  died  when  his  son  was  only  eleven 
years  of  age.     He  was  introduced  very  early  to  the  court 
of  queen  Elizabeth,  where  he  was  much  noticed,  and  re- 
ceived several  marks  of  her  majesty's  favour.     On  the  ac- 
cession of  king  James,  he  went  likewise  to  pay  his  duty, 
as  others  of  his  religion  did  ;  was  very  graciously  received  ; 
and  had  the  honour  of  knighthood  conferred  upon  him, 
being  looked  on  as  a  man  of  a  fair  fortune,  pregnant  abili- 
ties,   and   a   court-like    behaviour.      He    married    Mary, 
daughter  and  sole  heiress  of  William  Mulsho,  esq.  of  Go- 
thurst,  in  Buckinghamshire,  with  whom  he  had  a  great  for- 
tune,  which,    with  his  own  estate,  was  settled  upon  the 
children  of  that  marriage.     One  would  have  imagined  that, 
considering  his  mild  temper  and  happy  situation  in  the 
world,  this  gentleman  might  have  spent  his  days  in  honour 
and  peace,  without  running  the  smallest  hazard  of  meeting 
that  disgraceful  death,  which  has  introduced  his  name  into 
all  our  histories  :  but  it  happened  far  otherwise.     He  was 
drawn  in  by  the  artifices  and  persuasions  of  sir  Thomas 
Tresham,  a  zealous  papist,  and  probably  also  by  those  of 
the  notorious  Catesby,  with  whom  he  was  intimate,  to  be 
privy  to  the  gunpowder-plot ;  and  though  he  was  not  a 
principal  actor  in  this  dreadful  affair,  or  indeed  an  actor 
at  all,  yet  he  offered  1500/.  towards  defraying  the  expences 
of  it ;  entertained  Guy  Fawkes,  who  was  to  have  executed 
it,  in  his  house;  and   was  taken   in  open  rebellion  with 
other  papists  after  the  plot  was  detected  and  miscarried. 
The  means  by  which  sir  Everard  was  persuaded  to  engage 
in  this  affair,  according  to  his  own  accoun'    \vere  these: 
first,  he  was  told  that  king  James  had  broke  his  promises 
to  the  catholics;  secondly,  that  severer  laws  against  popery 
would  be   made   in   the  next  parliament,  that   husbands 
would  be  made  obnoxious  for  their  wives'  otte/iees    and 
that  it  would  be  made  a  praemunire  only  to  be  a  catholic ; 
but  the  main  point  was,  thirdly,  that  the  restoring  of  the 
catholic  religion  was  the  duty  of  every  member  ;  and  that, 

F  2 


68  D  I  O  B  Y. 

in  consideration  of  this,  he  was  not  to  regard  any  favonjr* 
received  from  the  crown,  the  tranquillity  of  his  country, 
or  the  hazards  that  might  be  run  in  respect  to  his  life,  his 
family,  or  his  fortune.  Upon  his  commitment  to  the  Tower, 
he  persisted  steadily  in  maintaining  his  own  innocence  as 
to  the  powder-plot,  and  refused  to  discover  any  who  were 
concerned  in  it  ;  but  when  he  was  brought  to  his  trial  at 
Westminster,  Jan.  27,  1606,  and  indicted  for  being  ac- 
quainted with  and  concealing  the  powder-treason,  taking 
the  double  oath  of  secrecy  and  constancy,  and  acting 
openly  with  other  traitors  in  rebellion,  he  pleaded  guilty. 
After  this,  he  endeavoured  to  extenuate  his  offence,  by 
explaining  the  motives  before  mentioned  ;  and  then  re- 
quested that,  as  he  had  been  alone  in  the  crime,  he  might 
alone  bear  the  punishment,  without  extending  it  to  his 
family  ;  and  that  his  debts  might  be  paid,  and  himself  be- 
headed. When  sentence  of  death  was  passed,  he  seemed 
to  be  very  much  affected  :  for,  making  a  low  bow  to  those 
on  the  bench,  he  said,  "  If  I  could  hear  any  of  your  lord- 
ships say  you  forgave  me,  I  should  go  the  more  cheerfully 
to  the  gallows."  To  this  all  the  lords  answered,  "  God 
forgive  you,  and  we  do."  He  was,  with  other  conspira- 
tors, upon  the  30th  of  the  same  month,  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered  at  the  west  end  of  St.  Paul's  church  in  Lon- 
don, where  he  asked  forgiveness  of  God,  the  king,  the 
queen,  the  prince,  and  all  the  parliament;  and  protested, 
that  if  he  had  known  this  act  at  first  to  have  been  so  foul  a 
treason,  he  would  not  have  concealed  it  to  have  gained  a 
world,  requiring  the  people  to  witness,  that  he  died  peni- 
tent and  sorrowful  for  it.  Wood  mentions  a  most  extraor- 
dinary circumstance  at  his  death,  as  a  thing  generally 
Itnown,  or  rather  generally  reported ;  namely,  that  when 
the  executioner  plucked  out  his  heart,  and  according  to 
form  held  it  up,  saying,  "  Here  is  the  heart  of  a  traitor,'' 
sir  Everard  made  answer,  "Thou  lyest ;"  a  story  which 
will  scarcely  now  obtain  belief;  yet  it  is  told  by  Bacon  in 
his  "  Historia  vitae  et  mortis,"  although  he  does  not  men- 
tion sir  Everard's  name. 

Sir  Everard  left  at  his  death  two  young  sons,  afterward* 
sir  Kenelm  and  sir  John  Digby,  and  expressed  his  affection 
towards  them  by  a  well-written  and  pathetic  paper,  which 
he  desired  might  be  communicated  to  them  at  a  fit  time, 
*i>  the  last  advice  of  their  father.  While  he  was  in  the 


D  I  G  B  Y.  69 

Tower,  he  wrote,  in  juice  of  lemon,  or  otherwise,  upon 
slips  of  paper,  as  opportunity  offered;  and  got  these  con- 
veyed to  his  lady,  by  such  as  had  permission  to  see  him. 
These  notes,  or  advertisements,  were  preserved  by  the 
family  as  precious  relics  ;  till,  in  1  675,  they  were  found  at 
the  house  of  Charles  Cornwallis,  esq.  executor  to  sir 
Kenelm  Digby,  by  sir  Rice  Rudd,  bart.  and  William 
Wogan  of  Gray's-inn,  esq.  They  were  afterwards  annexed 
to  the  proceedings  against  the  traitors,  and  other  pieces 
relating  to  the  popish  plot,  printed  by  the  orders  of  secre- 
tary Coventry,  dated  Dec.  12,  1G7S.  In  the  first  of  these 
papers  there  is  the  following  paragraph  :  "  Now  for  my 
intention,  let  me  tell  you,  that  if  I  had  thought  there  had 
been  the  least  sin  in  the  plot,  I  would  not  have  been  of  it 
for  all  the  world  ;  and  no  other  cause  drew  me  to  hazard 
my  fortune  and  life,  but  zeal  to  God's  religion."  Such 
was  the  subjugation  of  sir  Everard  Digby' s  understanding 
and  feelings  to  his  religious  principles,  and  the  interest  of 
the  church  to  which  he  was  devoted,  that  he  had  no  con- 
ception of  there  being  the  least  sin  in  his  engaging  in  a 
conspiracy  of  the  most  execrable  nature,  and  which  in- 
volved in  it  an  astonishing  complication  of  murder.  It 
appears,  too,  that  he  was  surprised  and  grieved  to  the  last 
degree,  that  the  plot  should  be  condemned  by  any  catho- 
lic. Nor  was  he  singular  in  these  sentiments.  The  other 
persons  who  were  concerned  in  the  conspiracy  gloried  in 
the  design,  and  they  were  most  of  them  men  of  family, 
estate,  and  character.  Mr.  Hume's  observations  on  the 
subject  are  worthy  of  being  recited  :  "  Neither,"  says  he, 
"had  the  desperate  fortune  of  the  conspirators  urged  them 
to  this  enterprize,  nor  had  the  former  profligacy  of  their 
lives  prepared  them  for  so  great  a  crime.  Before  that 
audacious  attempt,  their  conduct  seems,  in  general,  liable 
to  no  reproach.  Catesby's  character  had  entitled  him  to 
such  regard,  that  Rookwood  and  Digby  were  seduced  by 
their  implicit  trust  in  his  judgment;  and  they  declared, 
that,  from  the  motive  alone  of  friendship  to  him,  they  were 
ready,  on  any  occasion,  to  have  sacrificed  their  lives. 
Digby  himself  was  as  highly  esteemed  and  beloved  as  any 
man  in  England  ;  and  he  had  been  particularly  honoured 
with  the  good  opinion  of  queen  Elizabeth.  It  was  bigoted 
zeal  alone,  the  most  absurd  of  prejudices  masqued  with 
reason,  the  most  criminal  of  passions  covered  with  the 


70  D  I  G  B  Y. 

appearance  of  duty,  which  seduced  them  into  measures  that 
were  fatal  to  themselves,  and  had  so  nearly  proved  fatal  to 
their  country." 

DIGBY  (Sir  KENELM),  who  once  enjoyed  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  philosopher,  the  eldest  son  of  sir  Everard  Digby, 
was  born  at  Gothurst  in  Buckinghamshire,  June  11,  1603. 
At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  he  was  with  his  mother  at 
Gothurst,  being  then  in  the  third  year  of  his  age  :  but  he 
seems  to  have  been  taken  early  out  of  her  hands,  since  it 
is  certain  that  he  renounced    the  errors  of  popery  very 
young,  and  was  carefully  bred  up  in  the  protestant  religion, 
under  the  direction,  as  it  is  supposed,  of  archbishop  Laud, 
then  dean  of  Gloucester.    Some  have  said,  that  king  James 
restored  his  estate  to  him  in  his  infancy ;  but  this  is  an 
error ;  for  it  was  decided  by  law  that  the  king  had  no  right 
to  it.     About   1618   he   was  admitted  a  gentleman-com- 
moner of  Gloucester-hall,  now  Worcester  college,  in  Ox- 
ford ;  where  he  soon  discovered  such  strength  of  natural 
abilities,  and  such  a  spirit  of  penetration,  that  his  tutor, 
who  was  a  man  of  parts  and  learning,  used  to  compare  him, 
probably  for   the  universality  of  his  genius,  to  the  cele- 
brated Picus  de  Mirandula.     After  having  continued  at 
Oxford  between  two  and  three  years,  and  having  raised 
the  highest  expectations  of  future  eminence,  he  made  the 
tour  of  France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  and  returned  to  England 
in  1623  ;  in  which  year  he  was  knighted  by  the  king,   to 
whom  he  was  presented  at  the  lord  Montague's  house  at 
Hinchinbroke,  October  23.     Soon  after,  he  rendered  him- 
self remarkable  by  the  application  of  a  secret  he  met  with 
in  his  travels,   which   afterwards  made  so  much   noise  in 
the  world  under  the  title  of  the  "  Sympathetic  Powder," 
by  which  wounds  were  to  be  cured,  although  the  patient 
was   out  of  sight,  a  piece  of  quackery  scarcely  credible, 
yet  it  was  practised  by  sir  Kenelni,  and  his  patient  Howell, 
the  letter-writer,  and  believed  by  many  at  that  time.     The 
virtues  of  this  powder,  as  himself  assures  us,  were  tho- 
roughly inquired  into  by  king  James,  his  son  the  prince  of 
Wales,  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  with  other  persons  of 
the  highest  distinction,  and  all  registered  among  the  obser- 
vations of  the  great  chancellor  Bacon,    to  be  added  by 
way  of  appendix  to  his  lordship's  Natural  History  ;  but 
this  is  not  strictly  true ;  for  lord  Bacon  never  published 

i  Biog.  Brit.— Dodd's  Church  History,  vol.  II. 


D  I  G  B  Y.  71 

that  Appendix,  although  he  does  give  a  story  nearly  as 
absurd. 

After  the  death  of  James,  he  made  as  great  a  figure  in 
the  new  court  as  he  had  done  in  the  old  ;  and  was  ap- 
pointed a  gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber,  a  commissioner 
of  the  navy,  and  a  governor  of  the  Trinity-house.  Some 
disputes  having  happened  in  the  Mediterranean  with  the 
Venetians,  he  went  as  adoiiral  thither  with  a  small  fleet  in 
the  summer  of  1628  ;  and  gained  great  honour  bv  his  bra- 
very and  conduct  at  Algiers,  in  rescuing  many  English 
slaves,  and  attacking' the  Venetian  fleet  in  the  bay  of 
Scanderoon.  In  1632  he  had  an  excellent  library  of  MSS. 
as  well  as  printed  books  left  him  by  Ins  tutor  at  Oxford  ; 
but,  considering  how  much  the  MSS.  were  valued  in  that 

*  O 

university,  and  how  serviceable  they  might  be  to  the  stu- 
dents there,  he  generously  bestowed  them  the  very  next 
year  upon  the  Bodleian  library.  He  continued  to  this  time 
a  member  of  the  church  of  England;  but,  going  some  time 
afterwards  into  France,  he  began  to  have  religious  scru- 
ples, t-nd  at  length,  in  1636,  reconciled  himself  to  the 
church  of  Rome.  He  wrote  upon  this  occasion  to  Laud  an 
apology  for  his  conduct ;  and  the  archbishop  returned  him 
an  answer,  full  of  tenderness  and  good  advice,  but,  as  it 
seems,  with  very  little  hopes  of  regaining  him.  In  his 
letter  to  the  archbishop,  he  took  great  pains  to  convince 
him,  that  he  had  done  nothing  in  this  affair  precipitately, 
or  without  due  consideration  ;  and  he  was  desirous  that  the 
public  should  entertain  the  same  opinion  of  him.  As  no- 
thing also  has  been  more  common,  than  for  persons  who 
have  changed  their  system  of  religion,  to  vindicate  their 
conduct  by  setting  forth  their  motives  ;  so  with  this  view 
he  published  at  Paris,  in  1638,  a  piece,  entitled  "  A  Con- 
ference with  a  lady  about  the  choice  of  Religion."  It  was 
reprinted  at  London  in  1654,  and  is  written  in  a  polite, 
easy,  and  concise  style.  Some  controversial  letters  of  his 
were  published  at  London  in  1651. 

After  a  long  stay  in  France,  where  he  was  highly  ca- 
ressed, he  came  over  to  England  ;  and  in  1639  was,  with 
sir  Walter  Montague,  employed  by  the  queen  to  engage 
the  papists  to  a  liberal  contribution  to  the  king,  which 
they  effected  ;  on  which  account  some  styled  the  forces 
then  raised  for  his  majesty,  the  popish  army.  Jan.  1640, 
the  house  of  commons  sent  for  sir  Kenelm  in  order  to  know 
how  far,  and  upon  what  grounds,  he  had  acted  in.  this 


72  DIGBY. 

matter ;  which  he  opened  to  them  very  clearly,  without 
having  the  least  recourse  to  subterfuges  or  evasions.  Upon 
the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  being  at  London,  he 
was  by  the  parliament  committed  prisoner  to  Winchester- 
house;  but  at  length,  in  1643,  set  at  liberty,  her  majesty 
the  queen  dowager  of  France  having  condescended  to  write 
a  letter,  with  her  own  hand,  in  his  favour.  His  liberty 
was  granted  upon  certain  terms ;  and  a  very  respectful 
letter  written  in  answer  to  that  of  the  queen.  Hearne  has 
preserved  a  copy  of  the  letter,  directed  to  the  queen  re- 
gent of  France,  in  the  language  of  that  country  ;  of  which 
the  following  is  a  translation  :  "  Madam,  the  two  houses 
of  parliament  having  been  informed  by  the  sieur  de  Gressy, 
of  the  desire  your  majesty  has  that  we  should  set  at  liberty 
sir  Kenelm  Digby ;  we  are  commanded  to  make  known  to 
your  majesty,  that  although  the  religion,  the  past  beha- 
viour, and  the  abilities  of  this  gentleman,  might  give  some 
umbrage  of  his  practising  to  the  prejudice  of  the  constitu- 
tions of  this  realm  ;  nevertheless,  having  so  great  a  regard 
to  the  recommendation  of  your  majesty,  they  have  ordered 
him  to  be  discharged,  and  have  authorized  us  farther  to 
assure  your  majesty,  of  their  being  always  ready  to  testify 
to  you  their  respects  upon  every  occasion,  as  well  as  to 
advance  whatever  may  regard  the  good  correspondence 
between  the  two  states.  We  remain  your  majesty's  most 
humble  servants,  &c."  In  regard  to  the  terms  upon  which 
this  gentleman  was  set  at  liberty,  they  will  sufficiently  ap- 
pear from  the  following  paper,  entirely  written,  as  well  as 
subscribed  by  his  own  hand:  "  Whereas,  upon  the  media- 
tion of  her  majesty  the  queen  of  France,  it  hath  pleased 
both  houses  of  parliament  to  permit  me  to  go  into  that 
kingdom  ;  in  humble  acknowledgement  of  their  favour 
therein,  and  to  preserve  and  confirm  a  good  opinion  of  my 
zeal  and  honest  intentions  to  the  honour  and  service  of  my 
country,  I  do  here,  upon  the  faith  of  a  Christian,  and  the 
word  of  a  gentleman,  protest  and  promise,  that  I  will 
neither  directly  nor  indirectly  negociate,  promote,  consent 
unto  or  conceal,  any  practice  or  design  prejudicial  to  the 
honour  or  safety  of  the  parliament.  And,  in  witness  of 
my  reality  herein,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name, 
this  3d  day  of  August,  1643,  Kenelm  Digby."  Hovfever, 
before  he  quitted  the  kingdom,  he  was  summoned  by  a 
committee  of  the  house  of  commons,  in  order  to  give  an 
account  of  any  transactions  he  might  be  privy  to  between 


D  I  G  B  Y.  73 

archbishop  Laud  and  the  court  of  Rome ;  and  particularly 
as  to  an  offer  supposed  to  be  made  to  that  prelate  from 
thence  of  a  cardinal's  hat.  Sir  Kenelm  assured  the  com- 
mittee that  he  knew  nothing  of  any  such  transactions  ;  and 
that,  in  his  judgment,  the  archbishop  was  what  he  seemed 
to  be,  a  very  sincere  and  learned  protestant.  During  his 
confinement  at  Winchester-house,  he  was  the  author  of 
two  pieces  at  the  least,  which  were  afterwards  made  pub- 
lic;  namely,  1.  "  Observations  upon  Dr.  Browne's  Religio 
Medici,"  1643*.  2.  "Observations  on  the  22d  stanza  in 
the  9th  canto  of  the  2d  book  of  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen,'* 
1644,  containing,  says  his  biographer,  "  a  very  deep  phi- 
losophical commentary  upon  these  most  mysterious  verses.'* 
His  appearance  in  France  was  highly  agreeable  to  many 
of  the  learned  in  that  kingdom,  who  had  a  great  opinion  of 
his  abilities,  and  were  charmed  with  the  spirit  and  freedom, 
of  his  conversation.  It  was  probably  about  this  time  that, 
having  read  the  writings  of  Descartes,  he  resolved  to  go 
to  Holland  on  purpose  to  see  him,  and  found  him  in  his 
retirement  at  Egmond.  There,  after  conversing  with  him. 
upon  philosophical  subjects  some  time,  without  making 
himself  known,  Descartes,  who  had  read  some  of  his  works, 
told  him,  that  "  he  did  not  doubt  but  he  was  the  famous 
sir  Kenelm  Digby !"  "  And  if  you,  sir,"  replied  the 
knight,  "  were  not  the  illustrious  M.  Descartes,  I  should 
not  have  come  here  on  purpose  to  see  you."  Desmaizeaux, 
who  has  preserved  this  anecdote  in  his  Life  of  St.  Evre- 
mond,  tells  us  also  of  a  conversation  which  then  followed 
between  these  great  men,  about  lengthening  out  life  to 
the  period  of  the  patriarchs,  which  we  have  already  noticed 
in  our  account  of  Descartes.  He  is  also  said  to  have  had 
many  conferences  afterwards  with  Descartes  at  Paris,  where 
he  spent  the  best  part  of  the  ensuing  winter,  and  em- 
ployed himself  in  digesting  those  philosophical  treatises 
which  he  had  been  long  meditating  ;  and  which  he  pub- 
lished in  his  own  language,  but  with  a  licence  or  privilege 
from  the  French  king  the  year  following.  Their  titles  are, 
J.  "  A  Treatise  of  the  nature  of  Bodies."  2.  "  A  Treatise 
declaring  the  operations  and  nature  of  Man's  Soul,  out  of 

*  In  this  work,   says   Dr.  Johnson,  yet  its  principal  claim  to  admiration  is, 

in    his  life  of  Browne,  though  mingled  that  it  was  written  in  twenty-four  hours, 

with  some   positions  fabulous  and   un-  of  which  part  was  spent   in   procuring 

certain,  there  are  acute  remarks,  just  Browne's   book,  aud   part    in    reading 

Censures,  auc!  profound  speculations  j  it. 


74  D  I  G  B  Y. 

which  the  immortality  of  reasonable  Souls  is  evinced/' 
Both  printed  at  Paris  in  1644,  and  often  reprinted  at  Lon- 
don. He  published  also,  3.  "  Institutionum  peripatetica- 
rum  libri  quinque,  curn  appendice  theologica  de  origine 
mundi,"  Paris,  1651  :  which  piece,  joined  to  the  two  for- 
mer, translated  into  Latin  by  J.  L.  together  with  a  preface 
in  the  same  language  by  Thomas  Albius,  \hat  is,  Thomas 
White,  was  printed  at  London  in  4to,  1C69. 

After  the  king's  affairs  were  totally  ruined,  sir  Kenelm 
found  himself  under  a  necessity  of  returning  into  England 
in  order  to  compound  for  his  estate.  The  parliament, 
however,  did  not  judge  it  proper  that  he  should  remain 
here ;  and  therefore  not  only  ordered  him  to  withdraw, 
but  voted,  that  if  he  should  afterwards  at  any  time  return, 
without  leave  of  the  house  first  obtained,  he  should  lose 
both  life  and  estate.  Upon  this  he  went  again  to  France, 
where  he  was  very  kindly  received  by  Henrietta  Maria, 
dowager  queen  of  England,  to  whom  he  had  been  for  some 
time  chancellor.  He  was  sent  by  her  not  long  after  into 
Italy,  and  at  first  well  received  by  Innocent  X.  but  Wood 
says,  behaved  to  the  pope  so  haughtily,  that  he  quickly 
lost  his  good  opinion  ;  and  adds  farther,  that  there  was  a 
suspicion  of  his  being  no  faithful  steward  of  the  contribu- 
tions raised  in  that  part  of  the  world  for  the  assistance 
of  the  distressed  catholics  in  England.  After  Cromwell 
had  assumed  the  supreme  power,  sir  Kenelm,  who  had 
then  nothing  to  fear  from  the  parliament,  ventured  to  re- 
turn home,  and  continued  here  a  great  part  of  1655 ;  when 
it  has  generally  been  supposed  that  he  was  embarked  in 
the  great  design  of  reconciling  the  papists  to  the  protector. 

After  some  stay  at  Paris,  he  spent  the  summer  of  1656 
at  Toulouse,  where  he  conversed  with  several  learned  and 
ingenious  men,  to  whom  he  communicated,  not  only  ma- 
thematical, physical,  and  philosophical  discoveries  of  his 
own,  but  also  any  matters  of  this  nature  he  received  from. 
his  friends  in  different  parts  of  Europe.  Among  these  was 
a  relation  he  had  obtained  of  a  city  in  Barbary  under  the 
king  of  Tripoli,  which  was  said  to  be  turned  into  stone  in 
a  very  few  hours  by  a  petrifying  vapour  out  of  the  earth  ; 
that  is,  men,  beasts,  trees,  houses,  utensils,  and  the  like, 
remaining  all  in  the  same  posture  as  when  alive.  He  had 
this  account  from  Fitton,  an  Englishman  residing  in  Flo« 
rence  as  library-keeper  to  the  grand  duke  of  Tuscany  ;  and 
Fitton  from  the  grand  duke,  who  a  little  before  had  written 


D  t  G  B  Y.  7* 

to  the  pasha  of  Tripoli  to  know  the  truth.     Sir  Keuelm 
sent  it  to   a  friend  in   England;  and  it  was  at  length  in- 
serted in  the  "  Mercurius  Politicus."     This  drew  a  very 
severe  censure  upon  our  author  from  the  famous  Henry 
Stubbes,  who  called  him,  on  that  account,  "The  Pliny  of 
his  age  for  lying."     It  has,   however,  been  offered,  in  his 
vindication,  that  accounts  have  been  given  of  such  a  city 
by  modern  writers  ;  and  that  these  accounts  are  in  some 
measure  confirmed  by  a  paper  delivered  to  Richard  Wal- 
ler,  esq.  F.  R.  S.  by  Mr.  Baker,  who  was  the  English  con- 
sul at  Tripoli,  Nov.  12,  1713.     This  paper  is  to  be  found 
in  the  "  Philosophical  Observations  and  Experiments  of  Dr. 
Robert  Hooke,"  published  by  Derham  in  1726,   8vo  ;  and 
it    begins   thus  :  "  About  forty   days  journey  S.  E.  from 
Tripoli,  and  about  seven  days  from  the  nearest  sea-coast, 
there  is  a  place  called  Ougila,  in   which  there  are  found 
the  bodies  of  men,  women,  and  children,  beasts  and  plants, 
all  petrified  of  hard  stone,  like  marble."     And  we  are  af- 
terwards told,  in  the  course  of  the  relation,  that  "  the 
figure  of  a  man  petrified  was  conveyed  to  Leghorn,   and 
from  thence  to  England ;  and  that  it  was  carried  to  secre- 
tary Thurloe." 

In  1657  we  find  him  at  Montpelier ;  whither  he  went, 
partly  for  the  sake  of  his  health,  which  began  to  be  im- 
paired by  severe  fits  of  the  stone,  and  partly  for  the  sake 
of  enjoying  the  learned  society  of  several  ingenious  per- 
sons, who  had  formed  themselves  into  a  kind  of  academy 
there.  To-  these  he  read,  in  French,  his  "  Discourse  of 
the  Cure  of  Wounds  by  the  Powder  of  Sympathy,"  which, 
was  translated  into  English,  and  printed  at  London  ;  and 
afterwards  into  Latin,  and  reprinted  in  1669,  with  "The 
Treatise  of  Bodies,  &c."  As  to  the  philosophical  argu- 
ments in  this  work,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  author 
accounts  for  the  strange  operations  of  this  remedy,  how- 
ever highly  admired  in  those  days,  they  will  not  now  be 
thought  very  convincing.  He  spent  the  year  1658,  and 
part  of  1659,  in  the  Lower  Germany;  and  then  returned 
to  Paris,  where  we  find  him  in  16CO.  He  returned  the 
year  following  to  England,  and  was  very  well  received  at 
court ;  although  the  ministers  were  far  from  being  ignorant 
of  the  irregularity  of  his  conduct,  and  the  attention  he  paid 
to  Cromwell  while  the  king  was  in  exile.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear, however,  that  any  other  favour  was  shewn  him  than 
seemed  to  be  due  to  a  man  of  letters.  In  the  first  settle- 


76  DIGBY. 

ment  of  the  royal  society  we  find  him  appointed  one  of 
the  council,  by  the  title  of  sir  Kenelm  Digby,  knight, 
Chancellor  to  our  dear  mother  queen  Mary.  As  long  as 
his  health  permitted,  he  attended  the  meetings  of  this  so- 
ciety ;  and  assisted  in  the  improvements  that  were  then 
made  in  natural  knowledge.  One  of  his  discourses,  "Con- 
cerning the  Vegetation  of  Plants,"  \vas  printed  in  1661; 
and  it  is  the  only  genuine  work  of  our  author  of  which  we 
have  not  spoken.  For  though  the  reader  may  find  in 
Wood,  and  other  authors,  several  pieces  attributed  to  him, 
yet  these  were  published  after  his  decease  by  one  Hartman, 
who  was  his  operator,  and  who  put  his  name  in  the  title- 
page,  with  a  view  of  recommending  compositions  very 
unworthy  of  him  to  the  public.  It  may  be  proper  to  ob- 
serve in  this  place,  that  he  translated  from  the  Latin  of 
Albertus  Magnus,  a  piece  entitled  "  A  treatise  of  ad- 
hering to  God,"  which  was  printed  at  London  in  1654; 
and  that  he  had  formed  a  design  of  collecting  and  publish- 
ing the  works  of  Roo-er  Bacon. 

o  o 

He  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  at  his  house  in  Co- 
vent  Garden,  where  he  was  much  visited  by  the  lovers  of 
philosophical  and  mathematical  learning,  and  according  to 
a  custom  which  then  prevailed  much  in  France,  he  had  a 
kind  of  academy,  or  literary  assembly,  in  his  own  dwelling. 
In  1665  his  old  distemper  the  stone  increased  upon  him 
much,  and  brought  him  very  low  ;  which  made  him  de- 
sirous, as  it  is  said,  of  going  to  France.  This,  however, 
he  did  not  live  to  accomplish,  but  died  on  his  birth-day, 
June  1 1th,  that  year;  and  was  interred  in  a  vault  built  at 
his  own  charge  in  Christ-church  within  Newgate,  London. 
His  library,  which  was  justly  esteemed  a  most  valuable 
collection,  had  been  transported  into  France  at  the  first 
breaking  out  of  the  troubles,  and  improved  there  at  a  very 
considerable  expense  ;  but,  as  he  was  no  subject  of  his 
most  Christian  majesty,  it  became,  according  to  that  branch 
of  the  prerogative  which  the  French  style  DroilcTAubain, 
the  property  of  the  crown  upon  his  decease.  He  left  an 
only  son,  John  Digby,  esq.  who  succeeded  to  the  family 
estate.  He  had  an  elder  son,  Kenelm  Digby,  esq.  of 
great  abilities  and  virtues  ;  but  this  gentleman  appearing 
in  arms  for  Charles  I.  after  that  monarch  was  utterly  inca- 
pable of  making  the  least  resistance,  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  St.  Neot's  in  Huntingdonshire,  July  7,  1648. 

It  has  been  justly  observed  by  the  editors  of  the  last 


D  I  G  B  Y.  77 

edition  of  the  Biog.  Britannica,  that  sir  Kenelm  Digby 
seems  to  have  obtained  a  reputation  beyond  his  merit ;  yet 
his  merit  was  great,  and  his  personal  character  has  been 
admirably  drawn  by  lord  Clarendon  :  "  He  was,"  says 
that  historian,  "  a  person  very  eminent  and  notorious 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  from  his  cradle  to 
his  grave  ;  of  an  ancient  family  and  noble  extraction  ;  and 
inherited  a  fair  and  plentiful  fortune,  notwithstanding  the 
attainder  of  his  father.  He  was  a  man  of  a  very  extraor- 
dinary person  and  presence,  which  drew  the  eyes  of  all 
men  upon  him,  which  were  more  fixed  by  a  wonderful 
graceful  behaviour,  a  flowing  courtesy  and  civility,  and 
such  a  volubility  of  language,  as  surprised  and  delighted  ; 
and  though  in  another  man  it  might  have  appeared  to  have 
somewhat  of  affectation,  it  was  marvellous  graceful  in. 
him,  and  seemed  natural  to  his  size,  and  mould  of  his 
person,  to  the  gravity  of  his  motion,  and  the  tune  of  his 
voice  and  delivery.  He  had  a  fair  reputation  in  arms,  of 
which  he  gave  an  early  testimony  in  his  youth,  in  some 
encounters  in  Spain  and  Italy,  and  afterwards  in  an  action 
in  the  Mediterranean  sea,  where  he  had  the  command  of 
a  squadron  of  ships  of  war  set  out  at  his  own  charge,  under 
the  king's  commission  ;  with  which,  upon  an  injury  re- 
ceived or  apprehended  from  the  Venetians,  he  encountered 
their  whole  fleet,  killed  many  of  their  men,  and  sunk  one 
of  their  galeasses  ;  which  in  that  drowsy  and  unactive  time 
was  looked  upon  with  a  general  estimation,  though  the 
crown  disavowed  it.  In  a  word,  he  had  all  the  advantages 
that  nature  and  art,  and  an  excellent  education  could  give 
him,  which,  with  a  great  confidence  and  presentness  of 
mind,  buoyed  him  up  against  all  those  prejudices  and  dis- 
advantages (as  the  attainder  and  execution  of  his  father 
for  a  crime  of  the  highest  nature  ;  his  own  marriage  with 
a  lady,  though  of  an  extraordinary  beauty,  of  as  extraor- 
dinary a  fame ;  his  changing  and  rechanging  his  religion  ; 
and  some  personal  vices  and  licences  in  his  life)  which 
would  have  suppressed  and  sunk  any  other  man,  but  never 
clouded  or  eclipsed  him  from  appearing  in  the  best  places, 
and  the  best  company,  and  with  the  best  estimation  and 
satisfaction."  We  cati  entertain  no  doubt,  therefore,  of 
the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held",  and  of  the  merit 
which  deserved  it;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  impossible 
to  acquit  him  of  excessive  credulity,  or  of  deliberate  im- 
posture. His  sympathetic  powder,  and  his  belief,  or  his 


73  D  I  G  B  Y. 

assertion  of  the  power  of  transmuting  metals,  will  not  now 
bear  examination,  without  affecting  his  character  in  one  or 
other  of  these  respects.1 

DIGBY    (JOHN),    earl  of  Bristol,    and    father   of  lord 
George  Digby,  was  by  no  means  an  inconsiderable  man, 
though  checked  by  the   circumstances  of  his   times  from 
making  so  great  a  figure  as  his  son.     He  was  descended 
from  an  ancient  family  at  Coleshill,   in  Warwickshire,  and 
born  in  1580.      He  was  entered  a  commoner  of  Magdalen- 
college,   Oxford,  in  1595;  and  the  year  following  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  poet  by  a  copy  of  verses  made  upon 
the  death  of  sir  Henry  Union  of  Wadley,  in  Berks.    After- 
wards he   travelled  into  France  and   Italy,  and   returned 
from  thence  perfectly  accomplished  ;  so  that  soon  falling 
under  the  notice  of  king  James,  he  was  admitted  gentle- 
man of  the  privy-chamber,  and  one  of  his  majesty's  carvers, 
in  1605.     February  following  he   received  the  honour  of 
knighthood  ;  and  in  April  1611,  was  sent  ambassador  into 
Spain,  as  he  was  afterwards  again   in    1614.     April  1616 
he  was  admitted  one  of  the  king's  privy-council,  and  vice- 
chamberlain    of  his  majesty's  household  ;  and  in  1618  was 
advanced  to  the  dignity  of  a  baron,  by  the  title  of  the  lord 
Digby  of  Sherbourne,  in  Dorsetshire.     In  1620  he  was  sent 
ambassador  to  the  archduke  Albert,  and  the  year  following 
to  Ferdinand  the  emperor  ;   as  also  to  the  duke  of  Bavaria. 
In  1622  he  was  sent  ambassador  extraordinary  to  Spain, 
concerning  the  marriage  between  prince  Charles  and  Maria 
daughter  of  Philip  III.  and  the  same  year  was  created  earl 
of  Bristol.     Being  censured  by  the  duke  of  Buckingham, 
on  his  return  from  the  Spanish  court  in  1 624,  he  was  for 
a  short  time  sent  to  the  Tower  ;  but  after  an  examination 
by  a  committee  of  lords,  we  do  not  find  that  any  thing 
important  resulted  from  this  inquiry.     After  the  accession 
of  Charles  I.  the  tide  of  resentment  ran  strong  against  the 
earl,  who  observing  that  the  king  was  entirely  governed  by 
Buckingham,    resolved  no  longer  to   keep  any  measures 
with  the  court.     In   consequence  of  this,  the   king,  by  a 
stretch   of  prerogative,    gave  orders   that  the  customary 
writ  for  his  parliamentary  attendance  should  not;  be  sent 
to  him,  and  on  May  1,    1626,  he  was  charged  with  high 
treason  and  other  offences.     Lord  Bristol  recriminated,  by 
preparing  articles  of  impeachment  against  the  duke ;  but 

1  Biog.  Brit,— Life  of  lord  Clarendon.— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  H. 


D  I  G  B  Y.  79 

the  king,  resolving  to  protect  Buckingham,  dissolved  the 
parliament.  The  earl  now  sided  with  the  leaders  of  op- 
position in  the  long  parliament.  But  the  violences  of  that 
assembly  soon  disgusting  him,  he  left  them,  and  became  a 
zealous  adherent  to  the  king  and  his  cause ;  for  which  at 
length  he  suffered  exile,  and  the  loss  of  his  estate.  He 
died  at  Paris,  Jan.  21,  1653. 

He  was  the  author  of  several  works.  Besides  the  verses 
above-mentioned,  he  composed  other  poems ;  one  of 
which,  an  air  for  three  voices,  was  set  by  H.  Lawes,  and 
published  in  his  "  Airs  and  Dialogues,"  at  London,  in 
1653.  Besides  his  tracts  and  speeches  on  the  politics  of 
the  times,  he  was  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  the  author 
of  a  work  of  a  very  different  nature,  namely,  a  translation 
of  Peter  du  Moulin's  book,  entitled,  "  A  Defence  of  the 
Catholic  Faith,  contained  in  the  book  of  king  James,  against 
the  answer  of  N.  Coeffeteau,  1610,  &c."  He  probably 
undertook  this  laborious  task  at  the  request  of  that  mo- 
narch. The  dedication,  however,  to  the  king,  is  not  in 
his  own,  but  in  the  name  of  J.  Sandford,  his  chaplain.1 

DIGBY  (LORD  GEORGE),  an  English  nobleman  of  great 
parts,  was  son  of  the  preceding,  and  born  at  Madrid,  in 
October,  1612.  In  1626  he  was  entered  of  Magdalen- 
college,  in  Oxford,  where  he  lived  in  great  familiarity 
with  the  well-known  Peter  Heylin,  and  gave  manifest 
proofs  of  those  great  endowments  for  which  he  was  after- 
wards so  distinguished.  In  1636  he  was  created  M.  A. 
there,  just  after  Charles  1.  had  left  Oxford  ;  where  he  had 
been  spendidly  entertained  by  the  university,  and  parti- 
cularly at  St.  John's  college,  by  Dr.  Laud,  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.  In  the  beginning  of  the  long 
parliament  he  was  disaffected  to  the  court,  and  appointed 
one  of  the  committee  to  prepare  a  charge  against  the  earl 
of  Strafford,  in  1  640  ;  but  afterwards  would  not  consent  to 
the  bill,  "  not  only,"  as  he  said,  "  because  he  was  unsa- 
tisfied in  the  matter  of  law,  but  for  that  he  was  more  un- 
satisfied in  the  matter  of  fact*."  From  that  time  he  be- 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Lloyd's  State  Worthies,  and  Memoirs. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. — 
Park's  Royal  and  Noble  Authors,  vol.  HI. 

*  At  this  time  a  circumstance  oc-  he  had  seen   it,  and  that  it  had  been 

curred  of  a  singular  nature.     A  paper  conveyed  to  him  by  some  one   of  the 

of  great  consequence  to  the  trial  was  committee.     Mr.  Whitelock,  who  was 

missing  in  the  close  committee  of  the  in  the  chair,  and  who  had  the  charge 

house  of  commons  ;  and  by  the  earl  of  and  custody  of  all  the  papers,  was  sus- 

Strafford's  aufwcr  it  was  supposed  that  pected   move  than   any  other  person 


80  D  I  G  B  Y. 

came  a  declared  enemy  to  the  parliament,  and  shewed  his 
dislike  of  their  proceedings  in  a  warm  speech  against  them, 
which  he  made  at  the  passing' of  the  bill  of  attainder  against 
the  said  earl,  in  April  1641.  This  speech  was  condemned 
to  be  burnt,  arid  himself  in  June  following,  expelled  the 
house  of  commons.  In  Jan.  1642,  he  went  on  a  message 
from  his  majesty  to  Kingston-upon-Thames,  to  certain 
gentlemen  there,  with  a  coach  and  six  horses.  This  they 
improved  into  a  warlike  appearance  ;  and  accordingly  he 
was  accused  of  high  treason  in  parliament,  upon  pretence 
of  his  levying  war  at  Kingston-upon-Thames.  Clarendon 
mentions  "  this  severe  prosecution  of  a  young  nobleman  of 
admirable  parts  and  eminent  hopes,  in  so  implacable  a 
manner,  as  a  most  pertinent  instance  of  the  tyranny  and 
injustice  of  those  times."  Finding  what  umbrage  he  had 
given  to  the  parliament,  and  how  odious  they  had  made 
him  to  the  people,  he  obtained  leave,  and  a  licence  from 
his  majesty,  to  transport  himself  into  Holland  ;  whence  he 
wrote  several  letters  to  his  friends,  and  one  to  the  queen, 
which  was  carried  by  a  perfidious  confidant  to  the  parlia- 
ment, and  opened.  In  a  secret  expedition  afterwards  to 
the  king,  he  was  taken  by  one  of  the  parliament's  ships, 
and  carried  to  Hull;  but  being  in  such  a  disguise  that  not 
his  nearest  relation  could  have  known  him,  he  brought 
himself  off  very  dextrously  by  his  artful  management  of 

to  have  been  guilty  of  this  piece  of  and  deeper  imprecations  than  any  of 

treachery.     Strict  search  was  made  for  the  rest.     Nevertheless,  when,  at  the 

the  paper  ;  but  it  could  not  then   be  battle  of  Naseby,  the  king's  cabinet 

found.     Mr.  Whitelock  alleged,  in  his  was  taken,  a  copy   of  this   individual 

own  vindication,  that  amongst  such  a  paper  was  found  in  it,  written   in  his 

multitude  of  papers   as   he  had  in  his  lordship's   own   hand.     Thus  was  Mr. 

custody,  it  was  not  easy  to  see  that  he  Whitelock   cleared,  and  the  conveyer 

had  them   all   again,  when  they  were  of  the  paper  to  his  majesty,  and  from 

brought  forth,  or  any   of  them   called  him  to  the  earl  of  Strafiord,  fully  dis- 

for.     He  added,  that  he  never  shewed  covered.     Lord  Clarendon  seems   un- 

the  paper  to  any  but  the   committee;  willing  to  credit  the  truth  of  this  story; 

that  he  knew  not  who  had  it,  or  what  but  it  appears  to   rest  on  a  foundation 

was  become  of  it;  that  he  did  not  con-  too  strong  to  be  easily  shaken.     What 

vey   it  away  himself,  and  was  totally  his  lordship  observes  is,  that  it  may  be 

ignorant  by   whom  it   had   been  con-  presumed,  that  a  man  who  hud  goUen 

yeyed.     This  apology  did  not  give  full  a  paper  in  such   a  manner,  would,  at 

•atisfaction.     The  house  was  acquaint-  least,  after  such  an  inquiry  was  made 

ed  with  the  affair,  and  it  was  ordered,  upon  it,  have  cast  it  into  the  fire.    The 

that  every  one  of  the  committee  should  earl  of  Clarendun,   who   is    otherwise 

make  a  solemn  protestation,  that  they  mistaken  in  his  iclation  of  the  affair, 

did  not  convey  away  the  paper  in  ques-  should   have   recollected,    that   it  was 

tion,  nor  know  what  was  become  of  it.  not  in  lord  Digby's  power  to  des'roy 

All  of  them  made  this  protestation,  and  his   copy  of  the  paper,  after  he  had 

the  lord  Digby  with  more  earnestness  conveyed  it  to  the  king. — Biug.  Brit. 


D  I  G  B  Y. 


81 


the  governor,  sir  John  Hotham*.  In  1643  he  was  made 
one  of  the  secretaries  of  state  to  the  king,  and  high  steward 
of  the  university  of  Oxford,  in  the  room  of  William  lord 
Say.  In  the  latter  end  of  1645  he  went  into  Ireland,  and 
exposed  himself  to  great  hazards  of  his  life,  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  king  ;  from  thence  he  passed  over  to  Jersey, 
where  the  prince  of  Wales  was,  and  after  that  into  France, 
in  order  to  transact  some  important  matters  with  the  queen 
and  cardinal  Mazarin.  Upon  the  death  of  the  king,  he  was 
exempted  from  pardon  by  the  parliament,  and  obliged  to 
live  in  exile  till  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  when  he  was 
restored  to  all  he  had  lost,  and  made  knight  of  the  garter. 
He  became  very  active  in  public  affairs,  spoke  frequently  in 


*  The  story  is  thus  told  :  He  pre- 
tended to  be  a  Frenchman,  the  lan- 
guage of  which  country  he  spoke  ex- 
cellently ;  and  he  appealed  to  be  so 
sea-sick,  that  he  kept  himsult  in  the 
hole  of  the  bark,  till  it  arrived  at  the 
landing-place  :  and  in  that  time  he 
disposed  of  such  papers  as  were  not  fit 
to  be  perused.  When  he  came  on 
shore,  he  so  well  counterfeited  sick- 
ness and  want  of  health,  that  he  ob- 
tained leave  to  be  sent,  under  a  guard, 
to  some  obscure  corner,  for  repose. 
In  this  confinement  he  began  seriously 
to  reflect  on  the  desperateness  of  his 
condition.  He  did  not  think  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  continue  long  conceal- 
ed ;  and,  if  he  should  be  discovered,  he 
knew  that  he  was  so  odious,  above  all 
other  men,  to  the  parliament,  that  his 
life  would  be  in  the  greatest  danger. 
At  the  same  time,  he  was  sensible  that 
sir  John  Hotham,  the  governor  of  Hull, 
was  his  enemy,  and  that  he  was  a  man 
of  a  covetous,  rough,  and  unfeeling 
disposition.  Nevertheless,  he  resolved 
to  discover  himself  to  him.  Accordingly, 
lord  Digby,  in  broken  English,  which 
might  well  have  become  any  French- 
man, found  means  to  make  one  of  his 
guard  understand,  tbat  he  desired  to 
apeak  privately  with  the  governor ; 
and  that  he  would  reveal  some  secrets 
«f  the  king's  and  queen's  to  him,  that 
would  highly  advance  the  public  service. 
Upon  being  introduced  to  sir  John  Ho- 
tham, and  taken  to  a  private  part  of 
the  room,  he  asked  in  English,  "  Whe- 
ther he  knew  him  ?"  The  other,  sur- 
prized at  the  question,  told  him  "  No." 
"  Then,"  said  lord  Bigby,  "  I  shall 
try  whether  I  know  sir  John  Hotham, 

VOL.  XII. 


and  whether  he  be  in  truth  the  same 
man  of  honour  I  have  always  taken 
him  to  be."  Upon  this  he  informed 
the  governor  who  he  was,  and  that  he 
hoped  he  was  too  much  of  a  gentleman 
to  deliver  him  up  a  sacrifice  t/i  those 
who  were  his  implacable  enemies.  Sir 
John  Hotham  was  so  struck  with  lord 
Digby's  greatness  of  mind,  and  with, 
the  compliment  paid  to  him<elf,  that, 
contrary  to  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, both  from  his  own  nature,  and 
the  most  powerful  motives  of  interest 
and  ambition,  he  told  his  lordship, 
that  since  he  had  placed  such  a  confi- 
dence in  him,  he  would  not  deceive  hi* 
trust ;  and  wished  him  to  consider  in 
what  way,  and  under  what  pretence, 
he  should  be  set  at  liberty.  At  length 
it  was  agreed  that  the  Frenchman 
should  be  openly  sent  te  York,  as 
going  upon  a  political  business,  with 
an  assurance  that  he  would  return  to 
Hull.  In  the  conversations  which  at 
this  time  lord  Digby  had  with  the  go- 
vernor, he  used  every  argument  to 
persuade  him  to  engage  in  the  king's 
service  ;  and  it  was  upon  some  encou- 
ragement of  that  kind,  that  an  expe- 
dition which  his  majesty  shortly  after 
made  to  Beverley,  was  founded.  T» 
forward  the  design,  our  enterprizing 
nobleman  returned  to  Hull  in  his  old 
disguise  :  but  all  his  efforts  to  prevail 
upon  sir  John  Hotham  to  surrender  the 
town  were  in  vain.  Sir  John's  son,  and 
the  principal  officers,  were  devoted  to  the 
parliament;  and  new  supplies  of  men 
were  sent  into  the  place  ;  so  that  the 
governor  either  wanted  the  courage  or 
the  power  lo  execute  what  be  desired, 


52  D  I  G  B  Y. 

parliament,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  enmity  to 
Clarendon  while  chancellor.  He  died  at  Chelsea,  March 
20,  1676,  after  succeeding  his  father  as  earl  of  Bristol. 
Many  of  his  speeches  and  letters  are  still  extant,  to  he 
found  in  our  historical  collections  ;  and  he  \vt\>te  "  Elvira," 
a  comedy,  &c.  There  are  also  letters  of  L  is  cousin 

sir  Kenelm  Digby,  against  popery,  mentioned  in  our  ac- 
count of  sir  Kenelm  ;  yet  afterwards  he  became  a  papist 
himself;  which  inconsistencies  in' his  character  have  been 
neatly  depicted  by  lord  Orford.  "  He  was,"  says  he,  "  a 
singular  person,  whose  life  was  one  contradiction.  He 
wrote  against  popery,  and  embraced  it ;  he  was  a  zealous 
opposer  of  the  court,  and  a  sacrifice  for  it ;  was  conscien- 
tiously converted  in  the  midst  of  his  prosecution  of  lord 
Strafford,  and  was  most  unconscientiously  a  prosecutor  of 
lord  Clarendon.  With  great  parts  he  always  hurt  himself 
and  his  friends ;  with  romantic  bravery,  he  was  always  an 
unsuccessful  commander.  He  spoke  for  the  test  act, 
though  a  Roman  catholic,  and  addicted  himself  to  astro- 
logy on  the  birth-day  of  true  philosophy."1 

DIGGES  (LEONARD),  an  able  mathematician,  was  de- 
scended from  an  ancient  family,  and  born  at  Digges-court, 
in  the  parish  of  Barham,  in  Kent,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  He  was  sent,  as  Wood  conjectures, 
(for  he  is  doubtful  as  to  the  place),  to  University-college, 
Oxford,  where  he  laid  a  good  foundation  of  learning  ;  and 
retiring  from  thence  without  a  degree,  prosecuted  his 
studies,  and  composed  the  following  works  :  1.  "  Tecto- 
nicum  ;  briefly  shewing  the  exact  measuring,  and  speedy 
reckoning  of  all  manner  of  lands,  squares,  timber,  stones, 
steeples,"  &c.  1556,  4to  ;  repubiished,  with  additions,  by 
his  son  Thomas  Digges,  1592,  4to ;  and  again  in  1647, 
4to.  2.  "  A  geometrical  practical  treatise,  named  Pan- 
tometfia,  in  three  books,"  left  imperfect  in  MS.  at  his 
death  ;  but  his  son  supplying  such  parts  of  it  as  were  ob- 
scure and  imperfect,  published  it  in  1591,  folio;  sub- 
joining, "  A  discourse  geometrical  of  ae  iiv<  regular  and 
Platonical  bodies,  containing  sundry  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical propositions,  arising  by  mutual  conference  of  these 
solids,  inscription,  circumscription,  and  i'-ansfonnaiion." 
3.  "  Prognostication  everlasting  of  right  good  effect ;  or, 
choice  rules  to  judge  the  weather  by  the  sun,  moon,  anet 

»  Biog.  Biit.— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  TL— Park's  Orford,  vol.  Ilf, 


D  1  G  G  E  S.  83 

stars,"  &c.  1555,  1556,  and  1564,  4to,  corrected  and 
augmented  by  his  son  ;  with  general  tables,  and  many 
compendious  rules,  1592,  4to.  He  died  not  later  than 
1573. ' 

DIGGES  (THOMAS),  only  son  of  the  preceding  Leo- 
nard Digges,  after  a  liberal  education  at  home,  studied  f  r 
some  time  at  Oxford  ;  and  partly  by  the  improvements  he 
made  there,  and  the  previous  instructions  of  his  learned 
father,  became  one  of  the  greatest  mathematicians  of  his 
age.  Of  his  history,  however,  we  only  know  that  when. 
queen  Elizabeth  sent  some  forces  to  assist  the  oppressed 
inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands,  he  was  appointed  muster- 
master  general,  by  which  he  hud  an  opportunity  of  be- 
coming skilled  in  military  affairs.  The  greater  part  of  his 
life  must  have  been  spent  in  his  favourite  studies,  as  be- 
sides the  revising,  correcting,  and  enlarging  some  pieces 
of  his  father's,  already  mentioned,  he  wrote  and  published 
the  following  learned  works  himself:  1.  "  Ala?  sire  scalse 
mathematical  ;  or  mathematical  wings  or  ladders,"  1573, 
4to  ;  containing  several  demonstrations  for  finding  the 
parallaxes  of  any  comet  or  other  celestial  body ;  with  a 
correction  of  the  errors  in  the  use  of  the  radius  astro- 
nomicus.  2.  "  An  arithmetical  military  treatise,  con- 
taining so  much  of  arithmetic  as  is  necessary  towards  mili- 
tary discipline,"  1579,  4to.  3.  "  A  geometrical  treatise, 
named  Stratioticos,  requisite  for  the  perfection  of  soldiers," 
1579,  4to.  This  was  begun  by  his  father,  but  finished  by 
himself.  They  were  both  reprinted  together  in  1590,  with 
several  amendments  and  additions,  under  this  title  :  u"  An 
arithmetical  warlike  treatise,  named  Stratioticos ;  com- 
pendiously teaching  the  science  of  numbers,  as  well  in 
fractions  as  integers,  and  so  much  of  the  rules  and  equa- 
tions algebraical,  and  art  of  numbers  cossical,  as  are  re- 
quisite for  the  profession  of  a  souldier.  Together  with  the 
moderne  militaire  discipline,  offices,  lawes,  and  orders  in 
every  well-governed  campe  and  armie,  inviolably  to  be 
observed."  At  the  end  of  this  work  there  are  two  pieces  ; 
the  first  entitled  "  A  briefe  and  true  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  earle  of  Leycester,  for  the  reliefe  of  the 
towne  of  Sluce,  from  his  arrival  at  Vlishing,  about  the  end 
of  June  1587,  untill  the  surrendrie  thereof,  26  Julii  next 
ensuing.  Whereby  it  shall  plainlie  appear  his  excellencie 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  L—Bio$,  Brit. 
G   2 


84  D  I  G  G  E-  S. 

was  not  in  anie  fault  for  the  losse  of  that  towne ;"  the  se- 
cond, "  A  briefe  discourse  what  orders  were  best  for  re- 
pulsing of  foraine  forces,  if  at  any  time  they  should  invade 
us  by  sea  in  Kent,  or  elsesvhere."  4.  "  A  perfect  descrip- 
tion of  the  celestial  orbs,  according  to  the  most  ancient 
doctrine  of  the  Pythagoreans,"  &c.  This  was  placed  at 
the  end  of  his  father's  "  Prognostication  everlasting,  &c." 
printed  in  1592,  4to.  5,  "  Humble  motives  for  associa- 
tion to  maintain  the  religion  established,"  1601,  8vo.  To 
which  is  added,  his  "  Letter  to  the  same  purpose  to  the 
archbishops  and  bishops  of  England."  6.  "  England's 
Defence ;  or  a  treatise  concerning  invasion."  This  is  a 
tract  of  the  same  nature  with  that  printed  at  the  end  of  his 
Stratioticos,  and  called,  "  A  briefe  discourse,"  &c.  It 
was  written  in  1599,  but  not  published  till  1686.  7.  A 
letter  printed  before  Dr.  John  Dee's  "  Parallaticce  com- 
mentationis  praxeosque  nucleus  quidam,"  1573,  4to.  Be- 
sides these  and  his  "  Nova  Corpora,"  he  had  by  him  se- 
veral mathematical  treatises  ready  for  the  press ;  but  law- 
suits, which  probably  descended  upon  him  with  his  patri- 
mony, and  were  productive  of  pecuniary  embarrassments, 
broke  in  upon  his  studies,  and  embittered  his  days.  He 
died  Aug.  24,  1595,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the 
church  of  Aldermanbury,  London.  Among  his  unpub- 
lished works,  was  a  Plan  for  the  improvement  of  the  Haven 
and  Mole  of  Dover,  in  1582,  which  was  communicated  to 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  is  printed  in  the  "  Archaeo- 
logia,"  vol.  XI.  He  married  Agnes,  daughter  of  sir  Wil- 
liam St.  Leger,  knt. l 

DIGGES  (SiR  DUDLEY),  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Digges, 
just  mentioned,  was  born  in  1583,  and  entered  a  gentle- 
man-commoner of  University-college,  in  Oxford,  1598. 
Having  taken  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1601,  he  studied  for 
some  time  at  the  inns  of  court;  and  then  travelled  beyond 
sea,  having  before  received  the  honour  of  knighthood.  On 
his  return  he  led  a  retired  life  till  1618,  when  he  was  sent 
by  James  I.  ambassador  to  the  tzar,  or  emperor  of  Russia. 
Two  years  after  he  was  commissioned  with  sir  Maurice  Ab- 
bot to  go  to  Holland,  in  order  to  obtain  the  restitution  of 

O 

goods  taken  by  the  Dutch  from   some  Englishmen   in  the 
East  Indies.     He  was  a  member  of  the  third  parliament  of 

'  Biog.  Brit. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.— Bibliographer,  No.  XII.  where  are  some  cu- 
rious extracts  from  his  works. 


D  I  G  G  E  S.  85 

James  I.  which  met  at  Westminster,  Jan.  30,  1621  ;  but 
was  so  rule  compliant  with  the  court  measures,  as  to  be 
ranked  a.^ong  those  whom  the  king  called  ill-tempered 
spirits,  lie  was  likewise  a  member  of  the  first  parliament 
of  Charles  1.  in  1626  ;  and  not  only  joined  with  those  emi- 
nent patriots,  who  were  for  bringing  Villiers  duke  of 
Buckingham  to  an  account,  but  was  indeed  one  of  the 
most  active  managers  in  that  affair,  for  which  he  was  com- 

" 

mitted  to  the  Tower,  though  soon  released.  He  was  again 
member  of  the  third  parliament  of  Charles  I.  in  1628, 
being  one  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  for  Kent ;  but  seemed 
to  be  more  moderate  in  his  opposition  to  the  court  than 
he  was  in  the  two  last,  and  voted  for  the  dispatch  of  the 
subsidies,  yet  opposed  all  attempts  which  he  conceived  to 
be  hostile  to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  or  the  constitu- 
tion of  parliament.  Thus,  when  sir  John  Finch,  speaker 
of  the  house  of  commons,  on  June  5,  1628,  interrupted 
sir  John  Elliot  in  the  house,  saying,  "  There  is  a  command 
laid  upon  me,  that  I  must  command  you  not  to  proceed  ;" 
sir  Dudley  Digges  vented  his  uneasiness  in  these  words  : 
"  I  am  as  much  grieved  as  ever.  Must  we  not  proceed  ? 
Let  us  sit  in  silence :  we  are  miserable  :  we  know  not  what 
to  do."  In  April  of  the  same  year,  he  opened  the  grand 
conference  between  the  commons  and  lords,  "  concerning 
the  liberty  of  the  person  of  every  freeman,"  with  a  speech, 
in  which  he  made  many  excellent  observations,  tending  to 
establish  the  liberties  of  the  subject.  In  all  his  parliamen- 
tary proceedings,  he  appeared  of  such  consequence,  that 
the  court  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  gain  him  over ; 
and  accordingly  they  tempted  him  with  the  advantageous 
and  honourable  office  of  master  of  the  rolls,  of  which  he 
had  a  reversionary  grant  Nov.  29,  1630,  and  became  pos- 
sessed of  it  April  20,  1636,  upon  the  death  of  sir  Julius 
Csesar.  But  he  did  not  enjoy  it  quite  three  years  ;  for  he 
died  March  8,  1639,  and  his  death  was  reckoned  among 
the  public  calamities  of  those  times.  He  was  buried  at 
Chilham  church,  in  Kent,  in  which  parish  he  had  a  good 
estate,  and  built  a  noble  house. 

He  was  a  worthy  good  man,  and,  as  Philipot  says,  "  a 
great  assertor  of  his  country's  liberty  in  the  worst  of  times, 
when  the  sluices  of  prerogative  were  opened,  and  the 
banks  of  the  law  were  almost  overwhelmed  with  the  inun- 
dations of  it."  He  is  now  chiefly  known  as  the  author  of 


86  D  I  G  G  E  S. 

several  literary  performance;,     lie  published,    1.   "A   De- 
fence of  Trade  ;  in  a  letter  to  sir  Thomas  Smith,   km.   go- 
veri.or  of  the  East  India  company,"    1615,   4to  ;  and  ai 
his  death  there  was  printed    under  his   name,   2.   "  A  Dis- 
course concerning  the  Rights  and  Privilege's  of  the  Subjv 
in  a  conference  desired   by  the   lords,  and   had  by  a  com- 
mittee of  both  houses   April   3,     1628,"     1642,  *4to.     At 
this  conference,   it  was,   that  sir  Dudley  made  the  speech 
above-mentioned  ;  which  is  probably  the  same  given  here. 

3.  He  made  several  speeches  upon  other  occasions,  inserted  iu 
Raaimorth's  Collections,  and  ;'  Ephemeris  Parliamentarian1 

4.  He  collected  the  letters  that  passed   between   the  lord 
Burleigh,  sir  Francis  Waisingham,  and  others,  about  the 
intended   marriages  of  queen    Elizabeth  with   the  dnke  of 
Anjou,   in  1570,  and  with  the  duke  of  Alencon   in    15-;1, 
\vhich  were  published  in  16,55,  under   the   title   of  "The 
Complete  Ambassador,  &c."   16*5.  folio. 

Learning  was  long  hereditary  in  this  family.      Sir  Dudley 

had  a  brother,   Leonard,  and  a  son  Dudley,  who  were  both 

learned  men  and  authors.      His  brother  LEONARD,   born  in 

1-588,   was   educated   in   University-college,   Oxford,   took 

the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  1606,  removed  to  London  ;  and  then 

travelling  beyond  sea,  studied  in  foreign  universities:   i'rcm 

whence   returning  a   good   scholar,   and   an  accomplished 

person,  he  was  created  M.  A.  in  1626.     His  commendatory 

verses  to  Shakspeare  are  prefixed  to  that  poet's  works.    He 

also  translated   from   Spanish   into   English  "  Gerardo  the 

unfortunate  Spaniard,    1622,"   4to,   written  by  Goncalo  de 

Cespades  :     and  from   Latin   into   English  verse,    "  Clau- 

clian's  Rape  of  Proserpine,    1617,"   4to.     He  died   April 

7,  1635,   being  accounted  a  good  poet  and  orator;  and   a 

great   master  of  the   English,    French,  and   Spanish   lan- 

gua, 

His  son  Drni.EY,  who  was  his  third  son,  was  born  about 
1612,  and  educated  ;;t  Oxford,  where  he  took  the  degree 
of  B.  A.  in  1632;  and  the  year  after  was  elected  a  fellow 
\ll-souls'  college.  He  took  a  master's  degree  in  1635; 
and  became  a  good  poet  and  linguist,  and  a  general 
scholar.  He  died  October  1,  1643;  having  distinguished 
himself  only  by  the  two  following  productions:  1.  "  An 
answer  to  a  printed  book  entitled  *  Observations  upon  some 
of  his  majesty's  late  answers  and  expresses,1"  Oxon.  1642. 
'2.  "  The  unlawfulness  of  subjects  taking  up  arms  against 


D  I  G  G  E  -S.  87 

their  sovereign  in  what  case  soever;  with   answers  to  all 
objections,"  Lond.  161-3,  4to. ' 

DILLENIUS  (JoiiN  JAMES),  an  eminent  botanist,  who 
settled  in  England,  was  born  at  Darmstadt,  in  Germany, 
in  1681.  He  was  early  intended  for  the  study  of  physic, 
and  had  the  principal  part  of  his  education  at  the  university 
of  Giessen,  a  city  of  Upper  Hesse.  Of  all  the  parts  of 
science  connected  with  the  medical  profession,  he  was 
most  attached  to  the  cultivation  of  botany  ;  by  which  he 
soon  obtained  so  much  reputation,  that  early  in  life  he  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Academia  Curiosorum  Germanise. 
Ho\v  well  he  deserved  this  honour,  was  apparent  in  his 
papers  published  in  the  "  Miscellanea  Curiosa."  The 
first  of  his  communications  that  we  are  acquainted  with, 
and  which  could  not  have  been  written  later  than  1715, 
was  a  dissertation  concerning  the  plants  of  America  that 
are  naturalized  in  Europe.  The  subject  is  curious,  and  is 
still  capable  of  much  farther  illustration.  A  diligent  in- 
quiry into  it  weuld  unquestionably  prove  that  a  far  greater 
number  of  plants  than  is  usually  imagined,  and  which  are 
now  thought  to  be  indigenous  in  Europe,  were  of  foreign 
origin.  Besides  the  most  obvious  increase  of  them,  owing 
to  their  passage  from  the  garden  to  the  dunghill,  and 
thence  to  the  field,  they  have  been  augmented  in  conse- 
quence of  various  other  causes,  no  small  number  of  them 
having  been  introduced  and  dispersed  by  the  importatiou 
of  grain,  the  package  of  merchandise,  and  the  clearing 
out  of  ships;  The  English  Flora  of  this  kind,  in  its  pre- 
sent state,  cannot  perhaps  contain  fewer  than  sixty  ac- 
knowledged species ;  and  a  critical  examination  would 
probably  add  greatly  to  the  catalogue.  Another  paper  of 
Diiienius's,  published  in  the  "  Miscellanea  Curiosa,"  was 
a  critical  dissertation  on  the  coffee  of  the  Arabians,  and  on 
European  coffee,  or  such  as  may  be  prepared  from  grain 
or  pulse.  In  this  dissertation  he  gives  the  result  of  his 
own  preparations  made  with  pease,  beans,  and  kidney- 
beans  ;  but  says,  that  from  rye  is  produced  what  comes 
the  nearest  to  true  coffee.  In  another  paper  he  relates  the 
experiment  which  he  made  concerning  some  opium  which 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Bibliographer,  No.  XII.  iu  which  there  are  some  particulars 
of  the  family  an;!  their  descendants,  and  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
Worthies  of  W  ..,  *ith  whom  ihe  writer  of  that  article  may  be  justly  classed. 
— Ath.  Ox.  vols.  I  and  H. 


88  D  I  L  L  E  N  I  U  S. 

he  had  prepared   himself  from   the  poppy  of   Europe 
growth.     In  the  same  collection  he  shews  himself  as  a  /• 
logist,  in  a  paper  on  leeches,  and  in  a  description  of  t 
species  of  the  Papilio  genus.     In  1719,  Dillenius  excited 
the  notice  of  naturalists  by  the  publication  of  his  Catalogue 
of  plants  growing  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Giesseu.     No- 
thing can  more  strongly  display  the  early  skill   and  inde- 
fatigable   industry   of   Dillenius,    than    his    being  able   to 
produce  so  great  a  number  of  plants  in   so  small  a  ti.. 
-He  enumerates  not  fewer  than  980  species  ot  what  w. 
then  called   the  more  perfect  plants;  that  is,  exclusiv..  . 
of  the  mushroom  class,  and  all  the  mosses.     By  the  nu 
of  this  performance,  the  character  of  Dillenius,  us  a  truly 
scientific  botanist,  was  fixed ;    and  henceforward  he    at- 
tracted the  notice  of  all  the   eminent  professors  and  ad- 
mirers of  the  science.     To  this  science  no  one  was  more 
ardently  devoted  at  that  time  in   England,  than  William 
Sherard,  esq.  who  had  been  British  consul  at  Smyrna,  from 
which  place  he  had  returned  to  his  own  country  in  1718  ; 
and  who,  soon  after,  had  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D. 
conferred  on  him  by  the  university  of  Oxford.     Being  par- 
ticularly   enamoured   with    Dillenius's   discoveries   in    the 
cryptogamia  class,  he  entered  into  a  correspondence  with 
him,  which  ripened  into  a  close  friendship.     In  1721,  Dr. 
Sherard,  in  the  pursuit  of  his  botanical  researches,  made 
the  tour  of  Holland,  France,   and  Italy,  much  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  science  ;  but  what  in  an  especial   manner 
rendered  his  travels  of  consequence  to  the  study  of  nature 
in  our  own  country,  was,  that  on   his  return  he  brought 
Dillenius  with  him  to  England.     It  was  in   the  month  of 
August  in  the  same  year  that  this  event  took  place  ;  and 
Dillenius  had  not  long  resided  in  England  before  he  un- 
dertook a  work  that  was  much  desired,  a  new  edition  of 
the   "   Synopsis  stirpium   Britannicarum"    of  Ray,  which 
was  become  scarce.     This  edition  of  the  "  Synopsis"  seems 
to  have  been  the  most  popular  of  all  his  publications. 

During  the  former  years  of  Dillenius  in  England,  his 
time  appears  to  have  been  divided  between  the  country 
residence  of  Mr,  James  Sherard,  at  Eltham,  in  Kent ;  the 
consul's  house  in  town  ;  and  his  own  lodgings,  which  in 
1728  were  in  Barking-alley.  At  the  latter  end  of  1727, 
Dillenius  was  so  doubtful  concerning  what  might  be  the 
state  of  his  future  circumstances,  that  he  entertained  4 


D  I  L  L  E  N  I  U  S.  89 

design  of  residing  in  Yorkshire.     This  scheme  did  not  take 
effect;  and  on  Aug.  12,   1728,  Dr.  William  Sherard  died, 
and  by  his  will  gave  3000/.  to  provide  a  salary  for  a  pro- 
fessor of  botany  at  Oxford,  on    condition  that  Dillenius 
should  be  chosen  the  first  professor;  and  he  bequeathed 
to  the  establishment  his  botanical   library,  his  herbarium, 
and  his  pinax.     The  university  of  Oxford   having   waved 
the  right  of  nomination,  in  consequence  of  Dr.  Sherard's 
benefaction,  Dillenius  now  arrived  at  that  situation  which 
had    probably  been  the  chief  object   of   his   wishes,    the 
asylum,   against  future  disappointments,  and  the  field  of 
all  that  gratification  which  his  taste  and  pursuits  prompted 
him  to  desire,  and  qualified  him  to  enjoy.     He  was  placed 
likewise  in  the  society  of  the  learned,  and  at  the  fountain 
of  every  information  which  the  stores  of  both  ancient  and 
modern   erudition   could   display   to    an  inquisitive   mind. 
One  of  the  principal  employments  of  Dr.  William  Sherard 
was  the  compilation  of  a  pinax,  or  collection  of  all   the 
names  which  had  been  given  by  botanical  writers  to  each 
plant.     After  the  death  of  Sherard,  our  professor  zealously 
fulfilled  the  will  of  his  benefactor,  in  the  care  he  took  of 
his  collection,  which  he  greatly  augmented.     But  he  was 
not  a  little  chagrined  at  the  want  of  books,  and  the  means 
of  purchasing  them.     Another  undertaking   in  which  our 
author  was  engaged,  was  the  "  Hortus  Elthamensis."     In 
this  elegant  and  elaborate  work,  of  which  Linnaeus  says, 
"  Est  opus  botanicum  quo  absolutius  mundus  non  vidit," 
417  plants  are  described   and  figured  with   the  most  cir- 
cumstantial accuracy.     They  are  all  drawn  and  etched  by 
Dillenius's    own    hand,    and    consist    principally  of   such 
exotics  as  were  then  rare,  or  had  but  lately  been  intro- 
duced  into   England.     The   sale  of  this  work,  which  was 
published  in  London,  1732,  fol.  did  not  by  any  means  cor- 
respond with   its  merit.     So  limited  was  the  attention  at 
that    time   paid    to    botanical   objects,    that  the  "  Hortus 
Elthamensis"  found  but  few  purchasers.     Dillenius  cut  up 
a  considerable  number  of  copies,  as  papers  to   hold  his 
Hortus  Siccus ;  and  in  despair  of  selling  the  remainder, 
through  the  recommendation  of  his  friend  Gronovius,  dis- 
posed of  them,  together  with  the  plates,  to  a  Dutch  book- 
seller,   who   broke  ;    so   that  our   author   lost  the    whole 
of  the  little  profit  he  had  expected  to  derive  from  the  sale. 
April  3,  1735,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in 


D  I  L  L  E  N  I  U  S. 


the  university  of  Oxford.  His  former  degree  of  the  same 
kind  had  probably  been  taken  at  Giessen.  In  the  summer 
of  1736  he  had  the  honour  of  a  visit  at  Oxford  from  the 
celebrated  Linnaeus,  who  returned  with  the  highest  opinion 
of  his  merit ;  and  from  this  period  a  correspondence  was 
carried  on  between  them*.  After  the  publication  of  the 
Hortus  Elthamensis,  Billenius  pursued  his  "  History  of 
Mosses"  with  great  application  ;  in  the  prosecution  of 
which  he  enjoyed  every  desirable  assistance.  There  is  the 
utmost  reason  to  believe  that  Dillenius  intended  to  have 
undertaken  the  funguses  as  well  as  the  mosses ;  which  de- 
sign he  appears  to  have  had  in  contemplation  not  long 
after  his  settlement  in  this  country.  Dillenius  is  said  to 
have  heen  of  a  corpulent  habit  of  body  ;  which  circum- 
stance, united  to  his  close  application  to  study,  might 
probably  contribute  to  shorten  his  days.  In  the  last  week 
of  March,  1747,  he  was  seized  with  an  apoplexy,  and  died 
on  the  2d  of  April,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age.  Con- 
cerning Dillenius's  domestic  character,  habits,  temper, 
and  dispositions,  there  is  but  slender  information.  The 
account  of  his  contemporaries  was,  that  he  was  moderate, 


*  This  good  opinion  was  not  at  first 
reciprocal.  According  to  the  account 
of  their  first  and  subsequent  inier;  lews-, 
J)illenius  did  not  exhibit  those  pio'ifs 
of  a  liberal  mi  nil  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  one  who  had  him- 
yelt'been  iiKlebt.d  so  much  to  the  li- 
berality of  others.  See  Stoever's  Lite 
of  Linnaeus,  p.  90,  et  seqq.  But  the 
ingenious  writer  of  his  life  in  the  Cy- 
cloppedi  .  that  although  l)il- 

lenius  was  priTaously  rather  unfa- 
vourably deposed  towards  the  refor- 
mat! ..-us  and  innovations  of  J.iniircus, 
a^  tending  to  create  difficulty  niiij  con- 
fusion in  the  first  instance.  lie  vxm 
forgot  all  such  prejudices,  and  these 
two  great  men  became  mutually  at- 
tached, as  honest  liberal  culiivalurs  of 
M>  liberal  and  pleasing  a  .science  ought 
to  be.  Dillenius  wished  to  fix  Lin- 
naeus at  Oxford,  as  his  coadjutor  in 
the  Pinaxj  and  if  fir  H;ms  Sluaue  had 
been  equally  discerning  and  equally 
.liberal,  the  illustrious  Swede  might 
have  been  naturalized  airici 
The  errors  of  Dillenius  respecting  the 
fructification  of  mosses,  were  too  im- 
plicitly adopted  by  Liunxus  against 
his  own  judgment  asid  observation ;  and 


hence  a  totally  erroneous  use  of  terms 
has  prevailed  in  bis  works  and  those 
of  his  followers,  to  the  present  day. 
In  his  "  Flora  Lapponica,"  he  often 
cites  Dillenius,  especially  concerning 
willows,  for  information  respecting  sy- 
nonyms, that  is  erroneous ;  but  his 
own  remarks  being  subjoined,  we  are 
guarded  against  any  errors  that  aright 
ensue  from  such  high  authority.  The 
"  Critica  Botanica"  of  Linnaeus  was 
dedicated  to  the  Sherardian  professor, 
as  being,  from  his  peculiar  occupation 
and  duty,  more  than  any  other  person, 
aware  of  the  evils  arising  from  confu- 
sion in  botanical  nomenclature,  and 
the  praise  and  respect  habitual  in  de- 
dications, have  rarely  been  so  sincerely 
bestowed,  or  >o  justly  deserved.  Lin- 
naeus remarked  in  a  Idler  to  IJalier, 
INlay  1,  1737,  that  "  Dillenius  was  the 
only  person  then  in  Kngland  who  either 
il  about  or  understood  the  genera 
of  plants  ;"  a  degree  of  scientific  com- 
mendation, which  in  any  ag-e  or  coun- 
try, can  bo  extended  to  v 
sons.  Nor  did  he  to  whom 
applied,  long  continue  in  the  same  de- 
gree lo  deserve  it. 


D  I  L  L  E  N  I  U  S.  91 

temperate,  and   gentle   in   all  his  conduct;    that    he  was 
known  to  few  who  did   not  seek   him  ;  and,  as   might  he 
expected  from  the  hent  of  his  suidies,  and  die  close  appli- 
cation he  gave  to  them,   that  his  habits  were  of  the  recluse 
kind.     From  the  perusal  of  some  of  his  letters  it  may  he 
collected  that  he  was  naturally  endowed  with  a  placid  dis- 
position, improved  hy  a  philosophical  calmness  of  mind, 
which  secured  him  in  a  considerable   degree  from  the  ef- 
fects of  the  evils  incident  to  life.     In  one  of  these  he  ex- 
presses himself  as  follows :   "  For  my  little  time,   1  have 
met  with  as  man*-*  adversities  and  misfortunes  as  any  body; 
which,  by  the  help  of  exercise,  amusement,  and  reading 
some  of  the  stoic  philosophers,   I  have  overcome ;  and  am 
resolved  that  nothing  shall  afflict  me  more.     Many  things 
here,  as  well  as  at  my  home,  that  have  happened  to  me,  would 
cut  down  almost  any  body.     But  two  days  ago  I  had  a  let- 
ter,   acquainting  me   with  a   very  near    relation's    death, 
whom  1  was  obliged  to  assist  with  money  in  his  calamities, 
in  order  to  set  him  up   again  in   business  ;  and  now  this  is 
all  gone,  and  there  is  something  more  for  me  to  pay,  which 
is  not  a  little  for  me;  but  it  does  not  at  all  affect  me.     I 
rather  thank  God  .that  it  is  not  worse.     This  is  only  one, 
and  I  have  had  harder  strokes  than  this  ;  and  there  lie  still 
some  upon   me."      His    drawings,    dried  plants,    printed 
books,  and   manuscripts,   &c.  were  left  by  our  author  to 
Dr.  Seidel,  his  executor  ;  by  whom  they  were  sold  to  Dr. 
Sihthorpe,  his  ingenious  and  learned  successor  in  the  bo- 
tanical professorship.     They  have  been  frequently  studied 
by  succeeding  botanists, .as  may  be  found  recorded  in  the 
works  of  Lightfoot,   Dickson,  Turner,   Smith,  and  others; 
the  present  amiable  professor,  Dr.  George  Williams,  being 
happy  at  all  times  to  render  them  useful,  and  to  forward 
the  views  of  the  truly  excellent  founder.1 

DILLON  (Wi-NTWORTii,  Karl  of  ROSCOMMON),  an 
English  poet,  was  born  in  Ireland  about  1633,  while  the 
\ernment  of  that  kingdom  was  under  the  first  earl  of 
Srraiford,  to  whom  he  was  nephew;  his  father,  sir  James 
Dillon,  third  earl  of  Roscominon,  having  married  Eliza- 
beth the  youngest  daughter  of  sir  William  Wenuvorth,  of 
Wentworth-Woodhouse,  in  the  county  of  York,  sister  to 
the  earl  of  Stratford.  Hence  lord  Roscommon  was  chris- 

1  Bio;:.  Brit. — Pulteney's  Sketches. — Stoever's  Life  of  Linnaeus.—  Rees's  Cy- 
clops."! i;i. 


92  D  I  L  L  O  X. 

tened  Wentivorth*.  He  was  educated  in  the  protestant 
religion,  his  father  (who  died  at  Limerick  in  1619)  having 
been  converted  by  archbishop  Usher  from  the  communion 
of  the  church  of  Rome;  and  passed  the  years  of  his  in- 
fancy in  Ireland.  He  was  brought  over  to  England  by  his 
uncle,  on  his  return  from  the  government  of  Ireland*,  and 
placed  at  that  nobleman's  seat  in  Yorkshire,  under  the 
tuition  of  Dr.  Hall,  erroneously*  said  to  have  been  after- 
wards bishop  of  Norwich.  The  celebrated  Hall  was  at  this 
time  a  bishop,  and  far  advanced  in  years.  By  this  Dr. 
Hall,  whoever  he  was,  he  was  instructed  in  Latin  ;  and, 
without  learning  the  common  rules  of  grammar,  which  he 
could  never  remember,  attained  to  write  that  language 
with  classical  elegance  and  propriety.  When  the  cloud 
began  to  gather  over  England,  and  the  earl  of  Strafford 
was  singled  out  for  an  impeachment,  he  was,  by  the  advice 
of  Usher,  sent  to  finish  his  education  at  Caen  in  Nor- 
mandy, where  the  protestants  had  then  an  university,  and 
studied  under  the  direction  of  the  learned  Bochart ;  but  at 
this  time  he  could  not  have  been  more  than  nine  years  old. 
After  some  years  he  travelled  to  Rome,  where  he  grew 
familiar  with  the  most  valuable  remains  of  antiquity,  apply- 
ing himself  particularly  to  the  knowledge  of  medals,  \vhich 
he  gained  to  perfection  ;  and  he  spoke  Italian  with  so  much 
grace  and  fluency,  that  he  was  frequently  mistaken  there 
for  a  native. 

Soon  after  the  restoration,  he  returned  to  England,* 
where  he  was  graciously  received  by  Charles  II.  and  made 
captain  of  the  band  of  pensioners.  In  the  gaieties  of  that 
age,  he  was  tempted  to  indulge  a  violent  passion  for 
gaming;  by  which  he  frequently  hazarded  his  life  in  duels, 
and  exceeded  the  bounds  of  a  moderate  fortune.  A  dis- 

*  These  circumstances    were    first  print  prefixed  to  his  Poems  (some  edi- 

pointed  out  by  Mr.  Nichols,  in  a  note  tion   probably   about   the   and  of  the 

on  bis  "  Select  Collection  of  Poems,"  last  century)  was  very  like  him;  and 

vol.  VI.  p.  54.     It  had  been  generally  that   he   very  strongly  resembled  his 

said  by  preceding  biographers,  that  the  noble    uncle.        It   is    not     generally 

earl  M'nt  for  him  "  after  the  breaking  known  that  all  the  particulars  of  lord 

out  of  the  civil  wars."    But,  if  his  lord-  Roscommon,   related    by    Fenton,    are 

ship  sent  for  him  at  all,    it  must  have  taken  from  this  Life  by  Clietwode,  with 

been   at  some  earlier  period;  for  he  which  he  was   probably  furnished   hy 

himself  was  beheaded  before  the  civil  Mr.  T.    Baker,    who    left   them    with 

war  can  properly  be  said  to  have   be-  many  other  MSS.   to  the  library  of  St. 

gun.     No  print  of  lord  Roscommon  is  John's  college,  Cambridge.     The  Life 

known  to  exist ;  though  Dr.  Chetwode,  of  lord   Roscommon  is  very  ill-written, 

in  a  MS  life   of  him,  says,  that  tke  and  full  of  common-place  obscivatiou-. 


DILLON.  93 

pute  with  the  lord  privy  seal,  about  part  of  his  estate, 
obliging  him  to  revisit  his  native  country,  he  resigned  his 
post  in  the  English  court;  and,  soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Dublin,  the  duke  of  Ormond  appointed  him  to  be  captain 
of  the  guards.  Mrs.  Catharine  Phillips,  in  a  letter  to  sir 
Charles  Cotterel,  Dublin,  Oct.  19,  1662,  styles  him  "  a 
very  ingenious  person,  of  excellent  natural  parts,  and  cer- 
tainly the  most  hopeful  young  nobleman  in  Ireland."  How- 
ever, he  still  retained  the  same  fatal  affection  for  gaming; 
and,  this  engaging  him  in  adventures,  he  was  near  being 
assassinated  one  night  by  three  ruffians,  who  attacked  him 
in  the  dark  ;  but  defended  himself  with  so  much  resolu- 
tion, that  he  dispatched  one  of  them,  while  a  gentleman 
coming  up,  disarmed  another  ;  and  the  third  secured  him- 
self by  flight.  This  generous  assistant  wras  a  disbanded 
officer,  of  a  good  family  and  fair  reputation,  but  whose 
circumstances  were  such,  that  he  wanted  even  cloaths  to 
appear  decently  at  the  castle.  Lord  Roscommon,  on  this 
occasion,  presenting  him  to  the  duke  of  Ormond,  obtained 
his  grace's  leave  to  resign  to  him  his  post  of  captain  of  the 
guards  :  which  for  about  three  years  the  gentleman  en- 
joyed ;  and  upon  his  death  the  duke  returned  the  commis- 
sion to  his  generous  benefactor. 

The  pleasures  of  the  English  court,  and  the  friendships 
he  had  there  contracted,  were  powerful  motives  for  his  re- 
turn to  London.  Soon  after  he  came,  he  was  made  mas- 
ter of  the  horse  to  the  duchess  of  York  ;  and  married  the 
lady  Frances,  eldest  daughter  of  the  earl  of  Burlington, 
and  widow  of  colonel  Courtney.  He  began  now  to  distin- 
guish himself  by  his  poetry  ;  and  about  this  time  projected 
a  design,  in  conjunction  with  his  friend  Dryden,  for  re- 
fining and  fixing  the  standard  of  our  language.  But  this 
was  entirely  defeated  by  the  religious  commotions  that 
were  then  increasing  daily;  at  which  time  the  earl  took  a 
resolution  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  at  Rome,  telling 
his  friends,  "  it  would  be  best  to  sit  next  to  the  chimney 
when  the  chamber  smoked,"  a  sentence  of  which,  Dr. 
Johnson  says,  the  application  seems  not  very  clear. 
Amidst  these  reflections,  being  seized  with  the  gout,  he 
was  so  impatient  either  of  hindrance  or  of  pain,  that  he 
submitted  himself  to  a  French  empiric,  who  is  said  to  have 
repelled  the  disease  into  his  bowels.  At  the  moment  in 
which  he  expired  he  uttered,  with  an  energy  of  voice  that 


94  DILLON. 

expressed  the  most  fervent  devotion,   two  lines  of  his  own 
version  of  "  Dies  Ira? :" 

"  My  God,  my  Father,  and  my  Friend, 
Do  not  forsake  me  in  my  end." 

He  died  Jan.  17,  168-t ;  and  was  buried  with  great  pomp  in 
Westminster- abbey. 

His  poems,  which  are  not  numerous,  are  in  the  body  of 
English  poetry  collected  by  Dr.  Johnson.  His  "  Essay  on 
Translated  Verse,"  and  bis  translation  of  "  Horace's  Art  of 
Poetry,"  have  great  merit.  Waller  addressed  a  poem  to 
his  lordship  upon  the  latter,  when  he  was  7.5  years  of  age. 
*'  In  the  writings  of  this  nobleman  we  view,"  says  Fenton, 
"  the  image  of  a  mind  naturally  serious  and  solid;  richly 
furnished  and  adorned  with  all  the  ornaments  of  art  and 
science;  and  those  ornaments  unaffectedly  disposed  in  the 
most  regular  and  elegant  order.  His  imagination  might 
probably  have  been  more  fruitful  and  sprightly,  if  his 
judgment  had  been  less  severe  ;  but  that  severity  (de- 
Jivered  in  a  masculine,  clear,  succinct  style)  contributed 
to  make  him  so  eminent  in  the  didactical  manner,  that  no 
man,  with  justice,  can  affirm  he  was  ever  equalled  by  any 
of  our  nation,  without  confessing  at  the  same  time  that  he 
is  inferior  to  none.  In  some  other  kinds  of  writing  his  ge- 
nius seems  to  have  wanted  fire  to  attain  the  point  of  per- 
fection ;  but  who  can  attain  it  ?  He  was  a  man  of  an 
amiable  composition,  as  well  as  a  good  poet;  as  Pope,  in 
his  '  Essay  on  Criticism,'  had  testified  in  the  following  lines: 

' Roscommon  not  more  learn'd  than  good, 

With  manners  generous  as  his  noble  blood  ; 

To  him  the  wit  of  Greece  and  Rome  was  known, 

And  every  author's  merit  but  his  own.'  " 

We  must  allow  of  Roscommon,  what  Fenton  has  not 
mentioned  so  distinctly  as  he  ought,  and,  what  is  yet  very 
much  to  his  honour,  that  he  is  perhaps  the  only  correct 
writer  in  verse  before  Addison  ;  and  that,  if  there  are  not 
so  many  or  so  great  beauties  in  his  compositions  as  in  those 
of  some  contemporaries,  there  are  at  least  fewer  faults. 
Xor  is  this  his  highest  praise  ;  for  Pope  has  celebrated 
him  as  the  only  moral  writer  of  king  Charles's  reign  : 

••  I  ahappy  Dryden  !  in  all  Charles's  days, 
Roscommon  only  boasts  unspotted  lays." 

"  Of  Roscommon's  works,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  the 
judgment  of  the  public  seems  to  be  right.  He  is  elegant, 


DILLON.  95 

but  not  great ;  he  never  labours  after  exquisite  beavities, 
and  he  seldom  falls  into  gross  faults.  His  versification  is 
smooth,  but  rarely  vigorous,  and  his  rhymes  are  remark- 
ably exact.  He  improved  taste,  if  he  did  not  enlarge 
knowledge,  and  may  be  numbered  among  the  benefactors 
to  English  literature."  Nor  ought  it  to  be  forgot,  that  he 
was  the  first  critic  who  had  tire  taste  and  spirit  publicly  to 
praise  the  "  Paradise  Lost ;"  with  a  noble  encomium  on 
which,  and  a  rational  recommendation  of  blank  verse,  he 
concludes  his  "  Kosay  on  Translated  Verse,"  though  this 
passage  was  not  in  the  first  edition. l 

DiLWORTH  (THOMAS),  a  diligent  schoolmaster,  was 
many  years  settled  in  Wapping,  and  is  known  by  an  use- 
ful "  Spelling  Book,"  where,  in  imitation  of  his  predeces- 
sors, he  has  favoured  the  public  with  a  print  of  himself. 
He  wrote  besides,  "  The  young  Book-keeper's  Assistant,'* 
Svo.  £  "  The  Schoolmaster's  Assistant,"  12mo;  and 
3.  "  Miscellaneous  Arithmetic,"  12mo,  all  of  them  many- 
times  printed.  He  died  Jan.  17,  1780.  To  this  brief  no- 
.,  from  the  last  edition  of  this  Dictionary,  perhaps  of 
little  importance,  we  may  add,  that  there  wa-j,  about  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago,  a  W.  H.  Dilworth,  M.  A.  the  author  of 
many  abridged  Lives  and  Histories,  price  one  shilling 
each,  "  adorned  with  cuts,"  such  as  "  The  Life  of  Alex- 
ander Pope,  esq.  with  the  Secret  History  of  Himself  and 
the  Noble  Lords  his  patrons ;"  "  The  Life  of  Dean  Swift, 
with  a  thousand  agreeable  incidents,"  &c.  &c.  He  appears 
to  have  been  the  legitimate  successor  of  Robert  Burton, 
and  probably,  like  him,  may  one  day  be  elevated  from  the 
hawker's  stall  to  the  collector's  library.2 

DIMSDALE  (THOMAS,  Baron),  a  celebrated  inoculator 
for  the  small  pox,  was  the  son  of  John  Dimsdale  of  They- 
don  Gernon,  near  Kpping  in  Essex,  a  surgeon  and  apothe- 
cary, by  Susan,  daughter  of  Thomas  Bowyer  of  Albury- 
hail,  in  the  parish  of  Albury,  near  Hertford.  He  was  born 
in  1712,  and  received  his  first  medical  knowledge  from  his 

'  O 

father,  and  at  St.  Thomas's  hospital.  He  commenced 
practice  at  Hertford  about  1734,  where  he  married  the 
only  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Brassey,  esq.  of  Roxford,  an 
eminent  banker  in  London.  This  lady  died  in  1744,  leav- 
ing no  children  ;  and  to  relieve  his  mind  under  this  loss, 

1  Biog,  Brit. — Life  by  Johnson. — Nichols's  PoeniSj  vol.  VI, 

*  Lust  edition  of  this  Dictiuuary,   &«. 


96  D  I  M  S  D  A  L  E. 

Mr.  Dimsdale  joined  the  medical  staff  of  the  duke  of  Cum- 
berland's army,  then  on  its  way  to  suppress  the  rebellion 
in  Scotland.  In  this  situation  he  remained  until  the  sur- 
render of  Carlisle  to  the  king's  forces,  when  he  received 
the  duke's  thanks,  and  returned  to  Hertford.  In  1746  he 
married  Anne  lies,  a  relation  of  his  first  wife,  and  by  her 
fortune,  and  that  which  he  acquired  by  the  death  of  the 
widow  of  sir  John  Dimsdale  of  Hertford,  he  was  enabled  to 
retire  from  practice;  but  his  family  becoming  numerous, 
he  resumed  it,  and  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1761. 

Having  fully  satisfied  himself  about  the  new  method  of 
treating  persons  under  inoculation  for  the  small-pox,  he 
published  his  treatise  on  the  subject  in  1766,  which  was 
soon  circulated  over  the  continent,  and  translated  into  all 
languages.  His  particular  opinion  may  be  learned  from 
the  conclusion,  in  which  he  says  that,  "  although  the  whole 
process  may  have  some  share  in  the  success,  it  consists 
chiefly  in  the  method  of  inoculating  with  recent  fluid  mat- 
ter, and  the  management  of  the  patients  at  the  time  of 
eruption."  This  proof  of  his  professional  knowledge  oc- 
casioned his  being  invited  to  inoculate  the  empress  Cathe- 
rine of  Russia,  and  her  son,  in  1768,  of  which  he  gives  a 
very  particular  and  interesting  account  in  his  "Tracts  on 
Inoculation,"  printed  in  1781.  Never,  perhaps,  did  the 
empress  display  her  courage  and  good  sense  to  more  ad- 
vantage than  in  submitting  to  an  operation,  of  which  she 
could  have  no  experience  in  her  own  country,  and  where 
at  that  time  it  was  the  subject  of  uncommon  dread  and 
alarm.  Nor  was  her  liberal  conduct  towards  Dr.  Dimsdale 
less  praiseworthy.  He  was  immediately  appointed  actual 
counsellor  of  state  and  physician  to  her  imperial  majesty, 
with  an  annuity  of  500/.  the  rank  of  a  baron  of  the  Russian 
empire,  to  descend  to  his  eldest  son,  and  a  black  wing 
of  the  Russian  eagle  in  a  gold  shield  in  the  middle  of  his 
arms,  with  the  customary  helmet,  adorned  with  the  baron's 
coronet,  over  the  shield.  He  also  received  at  the  same 
time,  the  sum  of  10,000/.,  and  2000/.  for  travelling  charges, 
and  miniature  pictures  of  the  empress  and  her  son,  &c. 
The  baron  now  inoculated  great  numbers  of  people  at 
Petersburgh  and  Moscow;  but  resisted  the  empress's  invi- 
tation to  reside  as  her  physician  in  Russia.  He  and  his 
son,  Dr.  Nath.  Dimsdale,  were  afterwards  admitted  to  a 
private  audience  of  Frederick  III.  king  of  Prussia,  at  Sans 
Souci,  and  thence  returned  to  England,  and  for  some  time 


D  I  M  S  D  A  L  E.  97 

the  baron  resumed  practice  at  Hertford.  In  1776,  he  pub- 
lished "  Thoughts  on  general  and  partial  Inoculation,"  8vo; 
and  two  years  after,  "  Observations  on  the  Introduction  to 
the  plan  of  the  Dispensary  for  general  Inoculation,"  8vo. 
This  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with  Dr.  Lettsom,  in 
•which  he  opposed  the  above  plan  for  inoculating  the  poor 
at  their  own  houses;  and  opened  an  inoculation-house, 
under  his  own  direction,  for  persons  of  all  ranks  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Hertford,  which  was  resorted  to  with 
success.  His  controversy  with  Dr.  Lettsom  was  carried  on 
in  the  following  pamphlets  :  "  Dr.  Lettsom's  letter  on  Ge- 
neral Inoculation  ;"  "  Remarks  on  Ditto,"  8vo;  "  Review 
of  Dr.  Lettsom's  observations  on  the  Baron's  Remarks ;" 
"  Letter  to  Dr.  Lettsom  on  his  Remarks,  &c."  "Answer  to 
Baron  Dimsdale's  Review,"  and  "  Considerations  on  the 
plan,  &c."  In  1781  he  printed  the  "  Tracts  on  Inocula- 
tion," already  mentioned,  which  were  liberally  distributed, 
but  not  sold. 

Bar.on  Dimsdale  afterwards  opened  a  banking-house  in 
Cornhill,  in  partnership  with  his  sons,  and  the  Barnards, 
which  still  flourishes  under  the  firm  of  Barnard,  Dimsdale, 
and  Dimsdale.  In  1779  he  lost  his  second  wife,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  children,  and  afterwards  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  William  Dimsdale  of  Bishops- Stortford,  who 
survived  him.  In  1780  he  was  elected  representative  for 
the  borough  of  Hertford,  and  declined  all  practice,  except 
for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  He  went,  however,  once  more 
to  Russia,  in  1781,  where  he  inoculated  the  present  em- 
peror and  his  brother  Constantino ;  and  as  he  passed 
through  Brussels,  the  late  emperor  of  Germany,  Joseph, 
received  him  with  great  condescension.  In  1790  he  re- 
signed his  seat  in  parliament,  and  passed  some  winters  at 
Bath;  but  at  length  fixed  altogether  at  Hertford,  where 
he  died  Dec.  30,  1800.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the 
Quakers'  burying-ground  at  Bishops- Stortford.  His  family 
were  originally  quakers. ' 

DINANTO  (DAVID  DE),  an  heretic  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  was  a  disciple  of  Amauri  or  Almaric,  who  im- 
bibed many  errors  from  the  study  of  Aristotle,  and  fell 
under  the  ecclesiastical  censure  of  the  second  council  of 
Paris.  (See  AMAURI).  The  writings  both  of  Amauri  and 
Dinanto  were  condemned  to  be  burned,  which  sentence 

i  Gent.  May.  vol.  LXXl.  88,  COP,  069, 

VOL.  XIL  M 


9g  DIN  A  N  T  O. 

xvas  folldwed  by  a  general  prohibition  of  the  use  of  the 
physical  and  metaphysical  writings  of  Aristotle  in  the 
schools,  by  the  synod  of  Paris,  and  afterwards,  under  pope 
Innocent  III.  by  the  council  of  the  Laternu.  Dinanto  ex- 
pressed the  fundamental  principle  of  his  master  in  the  fol- 
lowing proposition,  "  God  is  the  primary  matter  and  sub- 
stance of  all  things."  He  composed  a  work  entitled 
"Quaternarii,"  with  several  other  productions,  which  were 
chiefly  designed  to  atfect  and  gain  the  multitude,  in  which 
lie  partly  succeeded  until  b.e  was  obliged  to  save  himself 
by  flight. ' 

D1XARCHUS,  an  orator  of  Greece,  the  son  of  Sostra- 
tus,  and  a  disciple  of  Thcophrastus,  was  a  native  of  Attica, 
or  of  Corinth,  and  earned  a  great  deal  of  money  by  com- 
posing harangues,  at  a  time  when  the  city  of  Athens  was 
without  orators.  Being  accused  of  receiving  bribes  from 
the  enemies  of  the  republic,  he  took  to  flight,  and  did  not 
return  till  fifteen  years  afterwards,  about  the  year  340  be- 
fore Christ.  Of  64  harangues  which,  according  to  Plu- 
tarch, he  composed,  and  which  Photins  says  he  read,  only 
three  have  come  down  to  us,  in  the  collection  of  Stephens, 
1575,  folio,  or  in  that  of  Venice,  1513,  3  vols.  folio.  His 
oration  against  Demosthenes  is  the  most  remarkable  of 
thesej  and  abounds  in  personal  invective  of  the  grossest 
kind.  Dionysias  cf  Halicarnassus  used  to  call  him  Demo- 
sthenes the  savage,  meaning  probably  that  he  had  some  of 
his  eloquence  deformed  bv  his  own  malice  and  temper.1 

DJNGLKY  (ROBERT],  second  son  of  sir  John  Dingley, 
knt.  by  a  sister  of  Dr.  Henry  Hammond,  was  born  in  Surrey 
in  1619,  and  educated  at  Magdalen  college,  Oxford; 
where  he  was  a  strict  observer  of  all  church  ceremonies. 
He  afterwards  became  a  zealous  puritan  j  and  was  remark- 
ably active  in  ejecting  such  as  were,  by  that  party,  styled 
ignorant  and  scandalous  ministers  and  school-masters.  He 
was  rector  of  Brighton,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  when  his 
kinsman  colonel  Hammond  was  governor  there.  The  Ox- 
ford antiquary  has  given  us  a  catalogue  of  his  works,  the 
most  extraordinary  of  which  is  :  "  The  Deputation  of  An- 
gels, or  the  Angel  Guardian  ;  1.  proved  by  the  divine 
light  of  nature,  &c.  2.  from  many  i"l)bs  and  mistakes,  &c. 
3.  applied  and  improved  for  our  information,  &c.  chiefly 

1  Mosheim. — T'rvK.-'ker. — Fabric.  Bib!.  Lai.  Mni.— *Mureri, 
*  Morcii. — Saxii  Unoiuaau 


D  I  N  G  L  E  Y.  9'j 

grounded  on  Acts  xii.  15."  London,  1654,  Svo.  He  died 
vin  1659,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  BrigUton  church.1 

DING.     SeeDINUS. 

DINOCRATES,  a  celebrated  ancient  architect  of 
Macedonia,  of  whom  several  extraordinary  tilings  are 
related,  lived  in  the  112th  olympiad,  or  332  B.  C. — 
Vitruvius  tells  us,  that,  when  Alexander  the  Great  had 
conquered  all  his  enemies,  Dinocrates,  full  of  great  con- 
ceptions, and  relying  upon  them,  went  from  Macedonia 
to  the  army,  with  a  view  of  acquiring  his  notice  and  fa- 
vour. He  carried  letters  recommendatory  to  the  nobles 
about  him,  who  received  him  very  graciously,  and  promised 
to  introduce  him  to  the  king ;  but  suspecting,  from  some 
delays,  that  they  were  not  serious,  he  resolved  at  length 
to  introduce  himself;  and  for  this  purpose  conceived  the 
following  project.  He  anointed  his  body  all  over  with  oil, 
and  crowned  his  temples  with  poplar;  then  he  flung  a  lion's 
skin  over  his  left  shoulder,  and  put  a  club  into  his  right 
hand.  Thus  accoutred,  he  appeared  in  the  court,  where 
the  king  was  administering  justice.  The  eyes  of  the  peo- 
ple being  naturally  turned  upon  so  striking  a  spectacle, 
tor,  in  addition  to  his  singular  garb,  he  was  tall,  well  pro- 
portioned, and  very  handsome  ;  the  king  asked  him,  who 
he  was  ?  "  I  am,"  says  he,  "  Dinocrates  the  Macedonian 
architect,  and  bring  to  your  majesty  thoughts  and  designs 
that  are  worthy  of  your  greatness  :  for  I  have  laid  out  the 
mount  Athos.into  the  form  of  a  man,  in  whose  left  hand  1 
have  designed  the  walls  of  a  great  city,  and  all  the  rivers 
of  the  mount  to  tiow  into  his  right,  and  from  thence  into 
the  sea."  Alexander  seemed  amused  with  this  vast  project, 
but  very  wisely  declined  putting  it  in  execution.  He  kept 
the  architect,  however,  and  took  him  into  Egypt,  where 
he  employed  him  in  marking  out  and  building  the  city  of 
Alexandria.  Another  memorable  instance  of  Dinocrates's 
architectonic  skill  is  his  restoring  and  building,  in  a  more 
august  and  magnificent  manner  than  before,  the  celebrated 
temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  after  Herostratus,  for  the  sake 
of  immortalizing  his  name,  had  destroyed  it  by  fire.  A 
third  instance,  more  extraordinary  and  wonderful  than 
either  of  the  former,  is  related  by  Pliny  in  his  Natural 
History;  who  tells  us,  that  he  had  formed  a  scheme,  by 
building  the  dome  of  the  temple  of  Arsinoe  at  Alexandria, 

i  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  H. 

n  ? 


loo  D  I  N  O  C  R  A  T  E  S. 

of  loadstone,  to  make  her  image  all  of  iron  hang  in  the 
middle  of  it,  as  if  it  were  in  the  air.  Dinocrates  probably 
deserves  great  credit  as  an  architect,  but  such  foolish  sto- 

O  * 

ries  as  this  last  must  be  placed  to  the  account  of  the  cre- 
dulity of  the  times  in  which  Pliny  wrote,  and  of  which  he 
largely  partook. ' 

DINOSTRATES  was  an  ancient  geometrician,  whom 
some  authors  have  erroneously  represented  as  a  disciple  of 
Pythagoras,  but  who,  according  to  Proclus,  lived  in  the 
time  of  Plato,  about  360  B.  C.  and  was  a  disciple  of  the  latter 
in  philosophy.  He  was  chiefly  distinguished  for  his  know- 
ledge of  geometry,  and  was  the  brother  of  Menechmus, 
who  amplified  the  theory  of  the  conic  sections.  Dinostrates 
also  is  said  to  have  made  many  geometrical  discoveries  ; 
but  he  is  particularly  distinguished  as  the  inventor  of  the 
quadratrix,  by  which  the  quadrature  of  the  circle  is  effect- 
ed, though  isot  geometrically,  but  only  mechanically. 
Montucla,  howev-. T,  observes  that  there  is  some  reason  for 
ascribing  the  original  invention  of  this  curve  to  Hippias  of 
Elaea,  an  ingemous  philosopher  and  geometer,  contem- 
porary with  Socrates.2 

DINOUART  (ANTHONY  JOSEPH  TOUSSAINT),  canon  of 
the  chapter  of  St.  Bennet  at  Paris,  and  member  of  the 
academy  of  the  Arcades  at  Rome,  was  born  of  a  reputable 
family  at  Amiens,  Nov.  1,  1715,  and  died  at  Paris  April  23, 
1786.  After  exercising  the  ministerial  functions  in  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  he  repaired  to  the  capital  to  engage 
in  literary  pursuits.  M.  Joly  le  Fleuri,  at  that  time  avo- 
eat-g6n£ral,  gave  him  his  esteem,  his  confidence,  and  his 
patronage.  He  was  first  employed  on  the  "Journal  Chre- 
tien," under  the  abbe  Joannetj  and  the  zeal  with  which 
he  attacked  certain  authors,  and  especially  M.  de  Saint- 
Foix,  involved  him  in  some  unpleasant  controversy.  He  had 
represented  this  latter  as  an  infidel  seeking  every  occasion 
for  mixing  pestilential  notions  in  whatever  he  wrote.  Saint- 
Foix  took  up  the  affair  with  warmth,  and  brought  an  action 
against  both  him  and  abbe  Joannet,  which  terminated  in  a 

O  * 

sort  of  reparation  made  him  by  the  two  journalists,  in  their 
periodical  publication.  After  this  the  abbe  Dinouart  be- 
gan to  write  on  his  own  account,  and  in  October  1  760,  set 
up  his  "Journal  Ecclesiastique,"  or,  Library  of  ecclesias- 
tical knowledge,  which  he  continued  till  his  death.  He 

i  Moreri.— Vilruvius,  lib.  II.— Pliny,  lib.  XXXIV. 

i.— HuUon's  Math.  Diet,  in  art.  Quadratnx.—- Pv«es'<  Cyclopaedia. 


D  I  N  O  U  A  R  T.  101 

established  a  very  extensive  correspondence  with  the  pro- 
vincial clergy,  who  consulted  him  on  the  difficulties  of  their 
ministration.     This  correspondence  contributed  greatly  to 
the  recommendation  of  his  journal,  which  contained  in- 
structions in  all  matters  of  church  discipline,  morality,  and 
ecclesiastical  history.     The  editor  indeed  made  no  scruple 
of  drawing  almost  all  his  materials  from  well-known  books, 
without  altering  a  word  ;  he  inserted,  for  example,  in  his 
journal,  all  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  Hardion's  Universal 
History ;    but   it  was    useful    to    the    inferior    provincial 
clergy,  who  were  deficient  in  libraries,  and  not  sorry  to 
have  their  loss  in  some  shape  made  up  by  the  periodical 
compilation  of  abbe  Dinouart.     Other  critics  censured  him 
for  giving  an  incoherent  assortment  of  articles  ;  for  adver- 
tising, for  instance,  in  the  same  leaf,  "  Balm  of  Genevieve," 
and  "  Sermons  to  be  sold"  for  the  use  of  young  orators 
who  would  not  take  the  trouble  to  compose  them  ;  imi- 
tating in  this  a  quack  of  our  own  nation,   who  used  to  ad- 
vertise sermons,  marmalade,  and  rules  for  carving.     Di- 
nouart,  however,  bears  a  reputable  personal  character.    He 
was  naturally  of  a  kind  disposition  and  a  sensible  heart. 
The  great  vivacity  of  his  temper,  which  hurried  him  some- 
times into  transient  extravagancies,  which  he  was  the  first 
to    condemn    in    himself,    prompted   also    his   activity  to 
oblige,  for  which  he  never  let  any  opportunities  escape  him. 
He  generally  wrote  in  a  loose,  negligent,  and  incorrect 
manner,  both  in  verse  and  prose,  and  even  aspired  to  be 
thought  a  French  and  Latin  poet ;  but  still  the  usefulness 
of  the   greater  part   of  his   works   recommended    them. 
Among  them,  we  find,   1.  "  Embriologie  sacre'e,  traduite 
du  Latin  de  Cangiamila,"  12mo.     2.  "  Hymnes  Latines." 
3.  "  Manuel  des  pasteurs,"  3  vols.  12mo.     4.  "  La  llhe- 
torique  du  predicateur,  ou  Traite  de  1'eloquence  du  corps,'* 
12mo.     5.  A  new  edition  of  the  "  Abrege"  chronologique 
de   Phistoire   ecclesiastique   de   Pabbe   Macquer,"   Paris, 
1768,    3  vols.  3vo.     6.  "Anecdotes  ecclesjastiques,"  ibid. 
1772,  2  vols.  8vo,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  the  abbd 
Jaubert.1 

DIN  US,  or  DING,  a  native  of  Mugello  in  Tuscany, 
was  a  very  learned  lawyer  and  professor  of  law  at  Bologna, 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  indeed  accounted  the  first 
man  of  his  time  for  knowledge,  eloquence,  and  style  both 

»  Diet.  Hist. 


102  D  I  N  U  S. 

of  speaking  and  writing.  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  employed 
him  in  compiling  the  fourth  book  of  the  Decretals, 
called  the  Sextus.  He  died  at  Bologna  in  1303,  as  it  is 

o  * 

said,  of  chagrin.  He  had  entered  into  the  church,  and 
been  disappointed  of  rising  according  to  what  he  thought 
his  deserts.  Of  his  works,  his  "  Commentarium  in  regulas 
juris  Pontificii,"  Svo,  was  so  valuable  that  Alciat  reckoned 
it  one  of  those  books  which  a  student  ought  to  get  by 
heart,  a  character  which  it  ceased  to  support  when  Charles 
du  Moulin  pointed  out  a  great  many  errors  in  it.  His 
other  publication  is  entitled  "  De  glossis  contrariis,"  2 
vo!s.  fol.1 

DIO  or  DION  CASSIUS,  an  ancient  historian,  known 
also  by  the  surnames  of  Cocceius  or  Cocceianus,  was  born 
at  Nicsea,   a   city  of  Bithyuia,  and  flourished  in  the  third 
century.     His  father  Aproniatius,  a  man  of  consular  dig- 
nity, was  governor  of  Dalmatia,  and  some  time  after  pro- 
consul   of  Cilicia,  under  the  emperors  Trajan  and  Adrian. 
Dio  was  with  his  father  in  Cilicia  ;  and  from   thence  went 
to  Rome,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by  public  plead- 
ings.    From  the   reign   of  Commodus  he  was  a  senator  of 
Rome  ;  was  made  prtetor  of  the  city  under  Pertinax  ;  and 
raised   at  length  to  the  consulship,  which  he  held  twice, 
and  exercised  the  second  time,  jointly   with  the  emperor 
Alexander  Severus.      He  had  passed  through  several  great 
employments  under   the   preceding  emperors.     Macrinus 
had   made  him   governor  of  Pergamus  and  Smyrna  ;    he 
commanded  some  time  in  Africa  ;  and  afterwards  had  the 
administration  of  Austria  and  Hungary,   then  called  Pan- 
nonia,   committed  to  him.     He  undertook  the  task  of  writ- 
ing history,  as  he  informs  us  himself,  because   he  was  ad- 
monished and  commanded  to  do  it  by  a  vision  from  heaven  ; 
and  he  tells  us  also,  that  he   spent  ten  years  in  collecting 
materials  for   it,  and   twelve  more  in  composing  it.     His 
history   began   from  the  building  of  Rome,  and  proceeded 
to   the  reign  of  Alexander  Severus.     It   was   divided  into 
SO  books,  or  eight  decades ;  many  of  which  are  not   now 
extant.     The  first  34  books  are  lost,  with  part  of  the  35th. 
The  25  following  are  preserved  intire;  but  instead  of  the 
last  20,  of  which  nothing  more  than  fragments  remain,  we 
have  only  the  epitome,  which  Xiphtliuus,   a  monk  of  Cou- 

1   Moreri. — Tiraboschi.— Diet.  Hist. — Dupin.— Freheri   Theatruiu.— Fabric. 
B.bl.  Lat.  Med. 


DIG.  103 

stantinople,  has  given  of  them.  Photius  observes,  that  he 
wrote  his  Roman  history,  as  others  had  also  done,  not 
from  the  foundation  of  Home  only,  but  from  the  descent 
of^neas  into  Iialy  ;  which  he  continued  to  the  year  of 
Home  982,  and  of  Christ  228,  when,  as  we  have  observed, 
he  was  consul  a  second  time  with  the  emperor  Alexander 
Severus.  What  we  now  have  of  it,  begins  with  the  expe- 
dition of  Lucullus  against  Mithridates  king  of  Pontus,  about 
the  year  of  Home  eiS4,  and  ends  with  the  death  of  the 
emperor  Claudius  about  the  year  80G. 

Though  all  that  is  lost  of  this  historian  is  much  to  be  re- 
gretted, yet  that  is  most  so  which  contains  the  history  of 
the  forty  !^st  years ;  for  within  this  period  he  was  an  eye- 
witness of  all  that  passed,  and  a  principal  actor  in  a  great ' 
part.  Before  the  reign  of  Com  mod  us,  he  could  relate 
nothing  but  what  he  had  from  the  testimony  of  others  ; 
after  that,  every  thing  fell  under  his  own  cognizance;  and 
a  man  of  his  quality,  who  had  spent  his  life  in  the  manage- 
ment of  great  affairs,  and  had  read  men  as  well  as  books, 
must  have  had  many  advantages  in  delineating  the  history 
of  his  own  times  ;  »and  it  is  even  now  allowed,  that  no  man 
has  revealed  more  of  those  state-secrets,  which  Tacitus 
styles  arcana  imperil,  and  of  which  he  makes  so  high  a 
mystery.  He  is  also  very  exact  and  full  in  his  descriptions, 
in  describing  the  order  of  the  comitia,  the  establishing  of 
magistrates,  &c.  and,  as  to  what  relates  to  the  apothcosi-, 
or  consecration  of  emperors,  perhaps  he  is  the  only  writur 
who  has  given  us  a  good  account  of  it,  if  we  except  Ilero- 
dian,  who  yet  seemh  to  have  been  greatly  indebted  to  him. 
Besides  his  descriptions,  there  are  several  of  his  speeches, 
which  have  been  highly  admired  ;  those  particularly  of 
Maecenas  and  Agrippa,  upon  the  question,  whether  Au- 
gustus should  resign  the  empire  or  no.  Yet  he  has  been 
exceedingly  blamed  for  his  partiality,  which  to  some  has 
appeared  so  great,  as  almost  to  invalidate  the  credit  of 
his  whole  history  ;  of  those  parts  at  least,  where  he  can  be 
supposed  to  have  been  the  least  interested.  The  instances 
alleged  are  his  partiality  for  Caesar  against  Pompey,  for 
Antony  against  Cicero,  and  his  strong  prejudices  against 
Seneca.  "  The  obvious  cause  of  the  prejudice  which  Dio 
had  conceived  against  Cicero,"  Dr.  Middleton  supposes 
"  to  have  been  his  envy  to  a  man  who  for  arts  and  elo- 
quence was  thought  to  eclipse  the  fame  of  Greece-;11  but 
he  adds  another  reason,  not  less  probable,  deducible  from 


lOi  D  I  O. 

Dio's  character  and  principles,  which  were  wholly  oppo- 
site to  those  of  Cicero.  "  For  Dio,"  as  he  says,  "  flou- 
rished under  the  most  tyrannical  of  the  emperors,  by  whom 
he  was  advanced  to  great  dignity  ;  and,  being  the  creature 
of  despotic  power,  thought  it  a  proper  compliment  to  it, 
to  depreciate  a  name  so  highly  revered  for  its  patriotism, 
and  whose  writings  tended  to  revive  that  ancient  zeal  and 
spirit  of  liberty  for  which  the  people  of  Rome  were  once 
so  celebrated  :  for  we  find  him  taking  all  occasions  in  his 
history,  to  prefer  an  absolute  and  monarchical  govern- 
ment to  a  free  and  democratical  one,  as  the  most  bene- 
ficial to  the  Roman  state." 

Dio  obtained  leave  of  the  emperor  Severus  to  retire  to 
Nicaea,  where  he  spent  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  is 
supposed  to  have  been  about  seventy  years  old  when  he 
died  ;  although  the  year  of  his  death  is  not  certainly  known. 
His  History  was  first  printed  at  Paris,  1548,  fol.  by  Robert 
Stephens,  with  only  the  Greek;  but  has  been  reprinted 
since  with  a  Latin  translation  by  Leunclavius,  Hanov.  1592, 
fol.  The  best  edition,  however,  is  that  of  Reimarus,  Ham- 
burgh, 1750,  2  vols.  fol.  which  was  begun  by  Fabricius. 
Photius  ranks  the  style  of  Dio  Cassius  amongst  the  most 
elevated.  Dio  seems,  he  says,  to  have  imitated  Thucy- 
clicles,  whom  he  follows,  especially  in  his  narratives  and 
orations;  but  he  has  this  advantage  over  him,  that  he  can- 
not be  reproached  with  obscurity.  Besides  his  History, 
Suidas  ascribes  to  him  some  other  compositions;  as,  1. 
"  The  Life  of  the  Philosopher  Arrianus.  "  2.  "  The  Ac- 
tions of  Trajan  ;"  and  3.  certain  "  Itineraries."  Ra- 
phael Volaterranus  makes  him  also  the  author  of  three 
books,  entitled  "  De  Principe,"  and  some  small  treatises 
of  morality.  His  History,  as  abridged  by  Xiphilinus,  was 
translated  into  English  by  Manning,  and  published  at 
London,  1704,  2  vols.  Svo. 1 

DIO  CHRYSOSTOM,  the  son  of  Pasicrates,  was  born 
at  Prusa  in  Bithynia.  We  have  just  seen  that  Dio  Cas- 
,  sius  had  the  name  of  Cocceius  or  Cocceianus,  and  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Wakefield,  Dio  Chrysostom  had  the  same  name' 
from  his  patron  Cocceius ;  but  as  an  entire  century  inter- 
vened between  these  two  Dio's,  it  is  impossible  that  Cas- 
sius could  have  derived  that  name  from  the  same  cause. 

1  Fabric.  Bib!.  Gra-c. — Vossius  Hist.  Grace. — Middleton's  preface  to  the  Life 
«f  Cicero. — tiouut's  Ceusura. — Saxii  Onoma&U, 


D  I  O.  105 

It  is  more  certain,  however,  that  the  subject  of  the  present 
article  was  called  Chrysostom,  or  golden  mouthed,  from 
the  elegance  and  purity  of  his  compositions.  This  name 
has  occasioned  a  frequent  confusion  of  our  Dio  Chrysostom 
with  John  Chrysostom,  the  Christian  preacher,  so  deno- 
minated for  the  same  solid  and  splendid  excellencies  of  his 
style.  Dio  Chrysostom,  under  Nero  and  Vespasian,  main- 
tained the  profession  of  a  sophist :  and  frequently  in- 
veighed, in  a  declamatory  and  luxuriant  style,  against  the 
most  illustrious  poets  and  philosophers  of  antiquity  ;  which 
obliged  him  to  leave  Rome,  and  withdraw  to  Egypt.  He 
then  assumed  the  character  of  a  stoic  philosopher  ;  embel- 
lishing, however,  his  philosophical  discourses  that  treated 
of  moral  topics,  with  the  graces  of  eloquence.  As  his 
character  corresponded  to  his  principles  of  virtue,  he  was 
a  bold  censor  of  vice,  and  spared  no  individual  on  account 
of  his  rank.  By  his  freedom  of  speech  he  offended  Do- 
mitian,  and  being  obliged  to  become  a  voluntary  exile  irr 
Thrace,  he  lived  in  great  poverty,  and  supported  himself 
by  private  labour.  After  the  death  of  this  emperor,  he 
returned  to  Rome,  arid  for  some  time  remained  concealed; 
but  when  he  found  the  soldiers  inclined  to  sedition,  he 
brought  to  their  recollection  Dio  the  orator  and  philo- 
sopher, by  haranguing  them  in  a  strain  of  manly  eloquence, 
which  soon  subdued  the  tumult.  He  was  admitted  into  the 
confidence  of  Nerva  and  Trajan,  and  distinguished  by  the 
former  with  tokens  of  favour.  He  lived  to  old  acre,  but 

- 

the  time  of  his  death  cannot  be  ascertained.  His  "Ora- 
tions" are  still  extant,  from  which  we  may  infer  that  he 
was  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  lively  fancy,  and  that 
he  blended  in  his  style  the  qualities  of  animation  and  sweet- 
ness. The  first  edition  of  his  works  was  published  at  Mi- 
lan, 1476,  4to.  The  principal  subsequent  editions  are, 
Venice,  15.51,  8vo  ;  Paris,  1604,  fol.  and  Paris,  1533,  4to, 
In  1800  the  late  Rev.  Gilbert  Wakefield  published  "  Se- 
lect Essays  of  Dio  Chrysostom,  translated  into  English, 
from  the  Greek,  with  notes  critical  and  illustrative,"  8vo, 
a  work,  however,-  rather  calculated  for  political  allusion, 
to  which  the  translator  was  unhappily  addicted,  than  for 
classical  illustration.  r 

DIODATI   (JOHN),  a  very  eminent  divine,  descended 
of  a   noble  family  of  Lucca,  was  born  June  6,  1576;  but 

1  Fabric.  Bibl.  Grace. — Brucker. — Wakefield's  preface. — Saxii  Onomast, 


106  D  I  O  D  A  T  I. 

of  his  early  years  we  have  no  information.     When,  how- 
ever, he  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age,   \ve  find  him  ap- 
pointed  professor   of  Hebrew  at  Geneva.      In    1619    tlie 
church   of  Geneva  sent  him  to  the  synod  of  Dort,   with  his 
colleague  Theodore  Tronchin.      Diodati   gained  so   much 
reputation  in   this   synod,   that  he  was    chosen,   with    five 
other  divines,  to  prepare    the  Belgic   confession  of  faith. 
He  was  esteemed  an  excellent  divine,  and  a  good  preacher. 
His  death  happened  at  Geneva,  Oct.   3,    16 ±9,  in  his  se- 
venty-third year,  and  was  considered  as  a  public  loss.   -  He 
has   rendered   himself  noticed   by   some    works   which  he 
published,  but  particularly  by  his  translation  of  the  whole 
Bible  into  Italian,  the  first  edition  of  which   he  published, 
with  notes,  in  1607,   at  Geneva,  and  reprinted  in    16  n. 
The  New  Testament  was  printed  separately  at  Geneva  in 
1608,  and  at  Amsterdam  and  Haerlem  in  1665.     M.  Simon 
observes,  that  his  method   is  rather  that  of  a  divine  and  a 
preacher,  than  of  a  critic,  by  which  he  means  only,  that 
his  work  is  more  of  a  practical  than  a  critical   kind.     He 
translated  the  Bible  also  into  French,  but  not  being  so  in- 
timate with  that  language,  he  is  not  thought  to  have  suc- 
ceeded  so   well  as   in    the  Italian.     This   translation   was 
printed  in   folio,  at  Geneva,  in  1664.     He  was  also  the 
first  who  translated  into  French  father  Paul's  "  History  of 
the  Council   of  Trent,"  and   many  have   esteemed  this  a 
more  faithful  translation  than  de  la  Houssaye's,  although 
less  elegant  in   language.     He  also  is  said  to  have  trans- 
lated sir  Edwin  Sandys'  book  on  the  "  State  of  Religion  in 
the  West."     But  the  work  by  which  he  is  best  known  in 
this  country  is  his  Annotations  on  the  Bible,  translated  into 
English,  of  which  the  third  and  best  edition  was  published 
in  1651,  fol.     He  is  said  to  have  begun  writing  these  an- 
notations  in    1606,    at  which   time   it  was  expected    that 
Venice  would  have  shaken  off   the  popish  yoke,  a  mea- 
sure  to  which  he  was  favourable ;  and  he  went  on   im- 
proving them   in   his  editions  of  the   Italian  and   French 
translations.     This  work  was  at  one  time  time  very  popular 
in  England,  and  many  of  the  notes  of  the  Bible,  called  the 
*'  Assembly  of  Divines'  Annotations,"  were  taken  from  Dio- 
dati literally*.     Diodati  was  at  onetime  in  England,  as  we 
learn  from  the  life  of  bishop  Bedell,  whom  he  was  desirous 

*  See  his  Letter  to  this  Assembly  in  the  Appendix  to  Abp.  Usher's  Life  and 
Letters,  p.  U. 


DJ.  O  D  A  T  I.  107 

to  become  acquainted  with,  and  introduced  him  to  Dr.  Mor- 
ton, bishop  of  Durham.     From   Morrice's  "  State  Letters 
of  tbe  right  hon.  the  earl   of  Orrery,"   we  learn  that  when 
invited  to  preach  at  Venice,  he  was  obliged  to  equip  him- 
self in  a  trooper's  habit,  a  scarlet  cloak  with  a  sword,  and 
in  that  garb  he  mounted  the   pulpit ;  but  was  obliged  to 
escape  again    to  Geneva,  from  the   wrath  of  a  Venetian 
nobleman,   whose  mistress,    affected   by   one    of  Diqdati'a 
sermons,  had   refused  to  continue  her  connection  with   her 
keeper.     The  celebrated  Milton,  also,  contracted  a  friend- 
ship for    Diodati,  when  on  his  travels  ;  and  some  of  his 
Latin  elegies  are  addressed  to  Charles  Diodati,  the  nepheiv 
of  the  divine.     This  diaries  was  one  of  Milton's  most  in- 
timate friends,   and  was  the  son  of  Theodore  Diodati,  who, 
although  originally  of  Lucca,  as  well   as  his  brother,  mar- 
ried an  English  lady,  and  his  son  in  every  respect  became 
an   Englishman.     He  was  also  an  excellent  scholar,  and 
being  educated  to  his  father's  profession,   practised  physic 
in   Cheshire.     He  was  at  St.  Paul's  school,  with  Milton, 
and  afterwards,  in  1621,  entered  of  Trinity-college,  Ox- 
ford.     He  died  in  I638.1 

D1ODORUS  SICULUS,  an  ancient  historian,  was  born, 
at  Agyrium,  in  Sicily,  and  nourished  in  the  times  of  Julius 
Caesar  and  Augustus,  in  the  first  century.     He  informs  us 
that  he  was  no  less  than  thirty  years  in  writing  his  history, 
in  the  capital  of  the  world,  viz.  Rome;  where  he  collected 
materials   which   he   could  not  have   procured  elsewhere. 
Nevertheless,  he  did  not  fail  to  travel  through  the  greatest 
part  of  the  provinces  of  Europe  and  Asia,  as  well  as  to 
Egypt,  that  he  might  not  commit  the  usual  faults  of  those 
who  had  ventured  to  treat  particularly  of  places  which  they 
had  never  visited.     He  calls  his  work,  not  a  history,  but  an 
Historical  Library  ;  and  with  some  reason  ;  since,  when  it 
was  intire,  it  contained,  according  to  the  order  of  time, 
all  which  other  historians  had  written  separately.     He  had 
comprized  in  forty  books  the  most  remarkable  events  which 
had  happened  in  the  world  during  the  space  of  1 138  years; 
without  reckoning  what  was  comprehended  in  his  six  first 
books  of  the  more  fabulous  times,  viz.  of  all  which  hap- 
pened  before   the   Trojan  war.     But  of  these   forty,  only 
fifteen   books  are  now  extant.     The  first  five  are  intire, 

1   Moreri.— Frcheri  Theatrum.—  P.urnet's   Life  of  Be.tell,  5.  19,  30.—  War- 
ton's  Milton,  p.  429,  and  MS  notes  by  the  author. 


10$  D  I  O  D  O  R  U  S. 

and  give  us  an  account  of  the  fabulous  times,  explaining 
the  antiquities  and  transactions  of  the  Egyptians,  As- 
syrians, Persians,  Libyans,  Grecians,  and  other  nations, 
before  the  Trojan  war.  The  five  next  are  wanting.  The 
llth  begins  at  Xerxes's  expedition  into  Greece;  from 
whence,  to  the  end  of  the  20th,  which  brings  the  history 
down  to  the  year  of  the  world  3650,  the  work  is  intire  ; 
but  the  latter  twenty  are  quite  lost.  Henry  Stephens  as- 
serts, from  a  letter  communicated  to  him  by  Lazarus  Baif, 
that  the  Historical  Library  of  Diodorus  remains  intire  in 
some  corner  of  Sicily  ;  upon  which,  says  la  Mothe  le 
Yayer,  "  I  confess  I  would  willingly  go  almost  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  in  hopes  to  find  so  great  a  treasure.  And 
I  shall  envy  posterity  this  important  discovery,  if  it  be  to 
be' made  when  we  are  no  more;  when,  instead  of  fifteen 
books  only,  which  we  now  enjoy,  they  shall  possess  the 
whole  forty." 

The  contents  of  this  whole  work  are  thus  explained  in 
tbe  preface  by  Diodorus  himself;  "  Our  six  first  books," 
says  he,  "  comprehend  all  that  happened  before  the  war 
of  Troy,  together  with  many  fabulous  matters  here  and 
there  interspersed.  Of  these,  the  three  former  relate  the 
antiquities  of  the  barbarians,  and  the  three  latter  those  of 
the  Greeks.  The  eleven  next  include  all  remarkable 
events  in  the  world,  from  the  destruction  of  Troy  to  the 
death  of  Alexander  the  Great.  And  lastly,  the  other  twenty- 
three  extend  to  the  conquest  of  Julius  Caesar  over  the  Gauls, 
when  he  made  the  British  ocean  the  northern  bounds  of  the 
Roman  empire."  Since  Diodorus  speaks  of  Julius  Caesar, 
as  he  does  in  more  places  than  one,  and  always  according 
to  the  pagan  custom,  with  an  attribute  of  some  divinity, 
he  cannot  be  more  ancient  than  he.  When  Eusebius  writes 
in  his  Chronicon,  that  Diodorus  lived  under  this  emperor, 
he  seems  to  limit  the  life  of  the  former  by  the  reign  of  the 
latter;  yet  Suidas  prolongs  his  days  even  to  Augustus; 
and  Scaliger  observes  in  his  "  Animadversions  upon  Eu- 
sebius," that  Diodorus  must  needs  have  lived  to  a  very  great 
age ;  and  that  he  was  alive  at  least  half  the  reign  of  Au- 
gustus, since  he  mentions  on  the  subject  of  the  olympiads, 
the  Roman  bissextile  year :  now  this  name  was  not  used 
before  the  fasti  and  calendar  were  corrected  ;  which  was 
done  by  Augustus,  to  make  the  work  of  his  predecessor 
jnore  perfect. 


D  I  O  D  O  R  U  S.  105* 

Diodorus  has  met  with  a  different  reception  from  the 
learned.  Pliny  affirms  him  to  have  heen  tiie  first  of  the 
Greeks  who  wrote  seriously,  and  avoided  trifles  :  "  primus 
apud  Graccos  desiit  nugari,"  are  his  words.  Bishop  Mon- 
tague, in  his  preface  to  his  "  Apparatus,"  gives  him  the 
praise  of  being  an  excellent  author  ;  who,  with  great  fide- 
lity, immense  labour,  and  uncommon  ingenuity,  has  col- 
lected an  "  Historical  Library,"  in  which  he  has  exhibited 
his  own  and  the  studies  of  other  men.  This  history,  with- 
out which  we  should  have  been  ignorant  of  the  antiquities 
and  many  other  particulars  of  the  little  town  of  Agyrium, 
or  even  of  Sicily,  presents  us  occasionally  with  sensible 
•and  judicious  reflections.  Diodorus  takes  particular  care 
to  refer  the  successes  of  war  and  of  other  enterprises,  not 
to  chance  or  to  a  blind  fortune,  with  the  generality  of  his- 
torians ;  but  to  a  wise  and  kind  providence,  which  presides 
over  all  events.  Yet  he  exhibits  proofs  of  extraordinary 
credulity,  as  in  his  description  of  the  Isle  of  Panchaia, 
with  its  walks  beyond  the  reach  of  sight  of  odoriferous 
trees;  its  fountains,  which  form  an  infinite  number  of 
canals  bordered  with  flowers;  its  birds,  unknown  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world,  which  warble  their  enchanting 
notes  in  groves  of  uninterrupted  verdure ;  its  temple  of 
marble,  4000  feet  in  length,  &c.  The  first  Latin  edition 
of  Diodorus  is  that  of  Milan,  1472,  folio.  The  first  of  the 
text  was  that  of  Henry  Stephens,  in  Greek,  1559,  finely 
printed  :  Wesseling's,  Amsterdam,  Gr.  and  Lat.  with  the 
remarks  of  different  authors,  various  lections,  and  all  the 
fragments  of  this  historian,  1745,  2  vols.  folio,  was  long 
accounted  the  best,  but  is  not  so  correct  as  was  supposed. 
Poggius  translated  it  into  Latin,  the  abbe  Terasson  into 
French,  and  Booth  into  English,  1700,  fol.  Count  Caylus 
has  an  ingenious  essay  on  this  historian  in  vol.  XXVII.  of 
the  "  Hist,  de  1'academie  des  Belles  Lettres,"  and  profes- 
sor Heyne  has  a  still  more  learned  and  elaborate  memoir  in 
"  The  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Gottingen," 
vol.  V.  on  the  sources  of  information  from  which  Diodorus 
composed  his  history.  This  was  afterwards  inserted  among 
the  valuable  prolegomena  to  Heyne's  edition  of  Diodorus, 
1798,  &c.  10  vols.  8vo,  which  is  now  reckoned  the  best.1 

DIODORUS,  of  Antioch,  priest  of   that  church,    and 
afterwards  bishop  of  Tarsus  in  the  fourth  century,  was  dis- 

1  Mor<*ri. — Fabric.  Bib!.  Grose. — La  Molhc  Je  Vayer  Jugemen*  sur  le  Hiat,— 
Vessiui  de  Gr»c.  Hist,— Saxil  Guocuast, 


110  .  D  1  O  D  O  R  U  S. 

ciple  of  Sylvanus,  and  master  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  of 
St.  Basil,  and  of  St.  Athanasius,  who  all  bestow  great 
praises  on  his  virtues  and  his  zeal  for  the  faith  :  praises 
which  were  confirmed  by  the  first  council  of  Constanti- 
nople. St.  Cyril,  on  the  contrary,  calls  him  the  enemy  of 
the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  regards  him  as  the  fore-runner 
of  Nestorins.  Diodorus  was  one  of  the  first  commentators 
who  adhered  to  the  literal  sense  of  Scripture,  without  ex- 
patiating in  the  fields  of  allegory  ;  but  only  some  fragments 
of  his  writings  are  come  down  to  us,  in  the  "  Catena  pa- 
trum  Grrccorum."  His  contemporaries  and  immediate  suc- 
cessors differ  very  essentially  as  to  his  real  character,  as 
may  be  seen  in  our  authorities.1 

DIODORUS,  of  Caria,  a  philosopher  of  the  Megaric 
school,  flourished  about  2SO  years  B.  C.  and  was  a  famous 
adept  in  the  verbal  quibbles  so  common  at  that  time,  and 
which  Aristotle  called  Kristic  syllogisms.  A  dialectic 
question  was  proposed  to  him  in  the  presence  of  Ptolemy 
Soter,  at  whose  court  he  was,  by  Stilpo,  another  quibbler 
like  himself ;  and  Diodorus  acknowledging  himself  inca- 
pable of  giving  an  immediate  answer,  requested  time  for 
the  solution  ;  on  which  the  king  himself,  we  presume  a 
wit,  ridiculed  his  want  of  ingenuity,  and  gave  him  the 
surname  of  CHRONUS.  Mortified  at  this  defeat,  he  retired 
from  the  court,  wrote  a  book  upon  the  question,  and  at 
last,  foolishly  enough,  died  of  vexation.  He  is  said  to 
have  invented  the  famous  argument  against  motion :  "  if  any 
body  be  moved,  it  is  either  moved  in  the  place  where  it  is, 
or  in  a  place  where  it  is  not;  but  it  is  not  moved  in  the 
place  where  it  is,  for  where  it  is,  it  remains  ;  nor  h  it  moved 
in  a  place  where  it  is  not,  for  nothing  can  either  actor  suffer 
where  it  is  not ;  therefore  there  is  no  such  thing  as  motion." 
Diodorus,  after  the  invention  of  this  wonderful  argument, 
was  very  properly  repaid  for  his  ingenuity.  Having  had 
the  misfortune  to  dislocate  his  shoulder,  the  surgeon  whom 
he  sent  for  to  replace  it,  kept  him  for  some  time  in  torture, 
whilst  he  proved  to  him,  from  his  own  method  of  reasoning, 
that  the  bone  could  not  have  mo-ced  out  of  its  place.  Dio- 
dorus has  been  ranked  among  the  atomic  philosophers, 
because  he  held  the  doctrine  of  small  indivisible  bodies, 
infinite  in  number,  but  finite  in  magnitude;  but  it  does 
Dot  appear  that  he  conceived  the  idea  which  distinguishes 
the  atomic  doctrine,  as  it  was  taught  by  Democriuis  and 

'  Lardner's  Works. — Cave,  vol.  I. — Dupin. 


D  1  O  D  O  R  U  S,  III 

others,  that  the  first  atoms  are  destitute  of  all  properties 
except  extension  and  figures.1 

DIOGENES,  a  celebrated  Cynic  philosopher,  was  born 
in  the  third  year  of  the  ninety-first  olympiad,  or  413  B.C. 
at  Sinope,  a  city  of  Pont  us.      His  father,  who  was  a  banker, 
was  convicted  of  debasing  the  public  coin,  and  was  obliged 
to   leave  his   country.      This  circumstance    gave   the  sou 
an  opportunity  of  visiting  Athens,  where  he  offered   him- 
self as  a  pupil  of  Aniisthenes;  but  that  philosopher  hap- 
pening to  be  in  a  peevish  humour,  refused  to  receive  him. 
Diogenes  still  importuning  him  for  admission,  Antistheues 
lifted  up  his  staff  to  drive  him  away;  upon  which  Diogenes 
said,   "  Beat  me  as  you  please  ;   I  will  be  your  scholar." 
Antisthenes,  overcome  by  his  perseverance,   received  him, 
and   afterwards    made   him   his    intimate    companion    and 
friend.     Diogenes    perfectly   adopted  the   principles    and 
character  of  his  master,  and  renouncing  every  other  object 
of  ambition,   he  determined    to  distinguish    himself  by  his 
contempt  of  riches  and  honours,  and   by  his  indignation 
against  luxury.      He  wore  a  coarse  cloak  ;  carried  a  wallet 
and  a  staff;  made  the  porticoes  and  other  public   places 
his  habitation  ;  and   depended   upon  casual   contributions 
for  his  daily  bread.     A  friend,  whom  he  had  desired   to 
procure  him  a  cell,  not  executing  his  order  so  soon  as  he 
expected,  he  took  up  his  abode   in  a  tub,  or   large  open 
vessel,  in  the  Metro  urn.     It  is  probable,  however,  Brucker 
thinks,  that  this  was  only  a  temporary  expression   of  in- 
dignation and  contempt,  and  that  he  did   not  make  a  tub 
the  settled  place  of  residence,  although  it  is  mentioned 
by  Juvenal   and  Seneca.     Whether  true  or   not,  there  is 
no  doubt  of  his  practising  rigid  abstinence,  .and  depending 
upon  casual  charity  ;  nor  is  it  less  certain  that  he  reproved 
the  luxurious  manners  of  the  Athenians  with  great  free- 
dom ;  and  yet  his  reproofs,  though  very  pungent,  mani- 
fested so  much  ingenuity,  as  to  excite  even  the  admiration 
of  those  against  whom  they  were  directed.     lie  uniformly 
inculcated   patience  of   labour  and    pain,  frugality,   tem- 
perance, and   an   entire  contempt  of  pleasure  ;  and  whe- 
ther praised  or  blamed,  appeared  equally  indifferent,  and 
preserved  on  all  occasions  a  perfect  self-command. 

Diogenes,   in  his   old  age,  is  said  to  have  sailed  to  the 
island  of  ^gina;  and  having  met  with  pirates,  he  was  car*- 

'  Moreri.— Brucker.— Dicj.  laert'uis. 


112  DIOGENES. 

ried  into  Crete,  and  exposed  to  public  sale.  Being  asked 
what  he  could  do  ?  he  replied,  "I  can  govern  men,  and 
therefore  sell  me  to  one  who  wants  a  master:"  Xeniades,  a 
wealthy  Corinthian,  being  struck  by  this  singular  reply, 
purchased  him  ;  upon  which  Diogenes  told  him,  "  I  shall 
be  more  useful  to  you  as  your  physician,  than  as  your 
slave."  Upon  their  arrival  at  Corinth,  Xeniades  gave  him 
his  liberty,  and  committed  to  his  direction  the  education 
of  his  children,  and  the  management  of  his  domestic  con- 
cerns. Xeniades  had  so  much  reason  to  be  satisfied  with 
his  judgment  and  fidelity,  that  he  used  to  say  the  gods 
had  sent  a  good  genius  to  his  house.  He  accustomed  his 
pupils  to  the  discipline  of  the  Cynic  sect,  and  took  greater 
pains  to  inure  them  to  habits  of  self-command,  than  to 
instruct  them  in  the  elements  of  science.  However,  he 
was  not  negligent  in  teaching  them  lessons  of  moral  wis- 
dom, which  he  inculcated  by  sententious  maxims ;  and  he 
allowed  them  the  moderate  use  of  athletic  exercises  and 
hunting.  During  his  residence  at  Corinth,  he  frequently 
attended  the  assemblies  of  the  people  at  the  Crancum,  a 
place  in  its  vicinity;  and  at  the  Isthmian  games,  where  he 
appeared  under  the  character  of  a  censor,  severely  lashing 
the  follies  of  the  times,  and  inculcating  rigid  lessons  of 
sobriety  and  virtue.  At  one  of  these  assemblies  the  con- 
ference between  Alexander  the  Great  and  Diogenes  is 
said  to  have  happened.  Plutarch  relates  the  story  thus  : 
Alexander  received  the  congratulations  of  all  ranks  on  his 
being  appointed,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Grecian  army  in  their  projected  expedition 
against  the  Persians.  Diogenes  was  absent  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  Alexander  expressed  his  surprise  at  this  circum- 
stance. Wishing  to  gratify  his  curiosity  by  the  sight  of 
such  a  philosopher  as  Diogenes,  he  visited  the  Craneum, 
where  he  found  the  philosopher  sitting  in  his  tub  in  th« 
sun.  The  king  came  up  to  him  in  the  crowd,  and  said, 
"  I  am  Alexander  the  Great;1'  to  which  Diogenes  replied, 
in  a  surly  tone,  "  and  I  am  Diogenes  the  Cynic."  Alex- 
ander, requesting  to  know  if  he  could  render  him  any  ser- 
vice, received  for  answer,  "  Yes,"  says  he,  "  do  not  stand 
between  me  and  the  sun."  Alexander  surprised  at  the 
magnanimity  of  this  reply,  said  to  his  friends,  "  If  I  were 
not  Alexander,  I  would  be  Diogenes."  There  arc  several 
circumstances  in  this  narrative  which  suggest  some  doubts 


DIOGENES.  US 

as  to  its  truth  :  yet,  from  the  character  of  Diogenes,  it  is 
not  very  improbable. 

Some  writers  assert,  that  after  the  death  of  Antisthenes, 
Diogenes  passed  his  summers  in  Corinth,  and  his  winters 
in  Athens,  for  which  there  seems  to  be  no  better  founda- 
tion than  for  the  whole  detail  of  small  anecdotes  and  jests 
which  have  been  ascribed  to  him,  and  which  are  entirely 
contrary  to  the  general  scope  of  his  philosophy,  and  to 
that  authority  and  respect  which  he  enjoyed  with  the  wise 
men  of  his  age.  If  we  can  pay  any  credit  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  ancients,  Diogenes  was  a  philosopher  of  a 
penetrating  genius,  not  unacquainted  with  learning,  and 
deeply  read  in  the  knowledge  of  mankind.  He  moreover 
possessed  a  firm  and  lofty  mind,  superior  to  the  injuries 
of  fortune,  hardy  in  suffering,  and  incapable  of  fear. 
Contented  with  a  little,  and  possessing  within  himself 
treasures, sufficient  for  his  own  happiness,  he  despised  the 
luxuries  of  the  age.  From  an  earnest  desire  to  correct 
and  improve  the  public  manners,  he  censured  reigning 
follies  and  vices  with  a  steady  confidence  which  sometimes 
degenerated  into  severity.  He  spared  neither  the  rich  nor 
the  powerful ;  and  even  ventured  to  ridicule  the  religious 
superstitions  of  the  age.  This  freedom  gave  great  offence 
to  multitudes,  who  could  not  endure  such  harsh  and  re- 
proachful lectures  from  the  mouth  of  a  mendicant  philo- 
sopher. The  consequence  was,  that  he  suffered  much 
obloquy,  and  was  made  the  subject  of  ludicrous  and  dis- 
graceful calumny.  It  is  wholly  incredible,  that  a  man 
universally  celebrated  for  his  sobriety,  contempt  of  plea- 
sure, and  indignation  against  vice,  should  have  been  guilty 
of  the  grossest  indecencies.  Brucker  has  amply  refuted 
the  story  of  his  amour  with  Lais,  the  celebrated  courtesan, 
by  proving  that  at  the  time  this  intrigue  is  said  to  have 
taken  place,  Lais  must  have  been  eighty  years  old,  and 
Diogenes  seventy.  Of  philosophical  pride,  however,  it  is 
less  easy  to  acquit  him  ;  and  it  was  probably  to  his  haughty 
temper,  his  coarse  invectives,  and  scurrilous  replies,  that 
he  owed  the  hostility  which  broke  out  in  misrepresenta- 
tions of  his  real  character.  Various  accounts  are  given, 
concerning  the  time  and  manner  of  his  death,  It  seems 
most  probable  that  he  died  at  Corinth,  of  mere  decay,  in 
the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  hundred  and  four- 
teenth olympiad.  His  friends  contended  for  the  honour 
of  defraying  the  expences  of  his  funeral ;  but  the  m 

VOL.  XII. 


114  DIOGENES. 

trates  of  Athens  settled  the  dispute,  by  ordering  him  ao 
honourable  interment  at  the  public  expence.  A  column 
of  Parian  marble,  terminated  by  the  figure  of  a  dog,  was 
raised  over  his  tomb  ;  and  his  friends  erected  many  brazen 
statues  from  respect  to  his  memory. 

Diogenes  left  behind  him  no  system  of  philosophy. 
After  the  example  of  his  master,  he  was  more  atten- 
tive to  practical,  than  theoretical  wisdom.  The  chief 
heads  of  his  moral  doctrine  may  be  thus  briefly  stated : 
Virtue  of  mind,  as  well  as  strength  of  body,  is  chiefly  to 
be  acquired  by  exercise  and  habit.  Nothing  can  be  ac- 
complished without  labour,  and  every  thing  may  be  ac- 
complished with  it.  Even  the  contempt  of  pleasure  may, 
by  the  force  of  habit,  become  pleasant.  All  things  belong 
to  wise  men,  to  whom  the  gods  are  friends.  The  ranks 
of  society  originate  from  the  vices  and  follies  of  mankind, 
and  are  therefore  to  be  despised.  Laws  are  necessary  in 
a  civilized  state  ;  but  the  happiest  condition  of  human  life 
is  that  which  approaches  the  nearest  to  a  state  of  nature, 
in  which  all  are  equal,  and  virtue  is  the  only  ground  of 
distinction.  The  end  of  philosophy  is  to  subdue  the  pas- 
sions, and  prepare  men  for  every  condition  of  life. 

From  the  numerous  maxims  and  apothegms  which  have 
been  ascribed  to  Diogenes,  we  shall  select  the  following, 
without  staying  to  inquire  what  right  he  has  to  the  credit 
of  them  :  Diogenes  treading  upon  Plato's  robe,  said,  "  I 
trample  under  foot  the  pride  of  Plato."  "  Yes,"  said 
Plato,  "  with  greater  pride  of  your  own."  Being  asked 
in  what  part  of  Greece  he  had  seen  good  men,  he  an- 
swered, "  No-where ;  at  Sparta  I  have  seen  good  boys." 
To  a  friend  who  advised  him  in  his  old  age  to  indulge  him- 
self, he  said,  "  Would  you  have  me  quit  the  race  when 
J  have  almost  reached  the  goal  ?"  Observing  a  boy  drink 
water  out  of  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  he  took  his  cup  out  of 
his  wallet,  and  threw  it  away,  saying  that  he  would  carry 
no  superfluities  about  him.  Plato  having  defined  man  to 
be  a  two-legged  animal  without  wings,  Diogenes  plucked 
off  the  feathers  from  a  cock,  and  turned  him  into  the  aca- 
demy^ crying  out,  "  See  Plato's  man."  In  reply  to  one 
who  asked  him  at  what  time  he  ought  to  dine ;  he  said, 
"  If  you  are  a  rich  man,  when  you  will ;  if  you  are  poor, 
when  you  can."  "  How  happy,"  said  one,  "  is  Caiiis- 
thenes,  in  living  with  Alexander  !"  "  No,"  said  Diogenes, 
"  he  is  not  happy ;  for  he  must  dine  and  sup  when  Alex- 


DIOGENES.  115 

ander  pleases."  Plato,  discoursing  concerning  ideas, 
spoke  of  the  abstract  idea  of  a  table  and  a  cup;  Diogenes 
said,  "  I  see  the  table  and  the  cup,  but  not  the  idea  of  the 
table  and  the  cup."  Plato  replied,  "  No  wonder,  for  you 
have  eyes,  but  no  intellect."  His  answer  to  an  invitation 
from  Craterus  to  come  and  live  with  him  was,  "  I  had  ra- 
ther lick  salt  at  Athens,  than  sit  down  to  the  richest  feast 
with  Craterus."  Being  asked  what  countryman  he  was,  he 
answered,  "  A  citizen  of  the  world."  To  one  that  reviled 
him  he  said,  "  No  one  will  believe  you,  when  you  speak 
ill  of  me,  any  more  than  they  would  me,  if  I  were  to  speak 
well  of  you."  Hearing  one  of  his  friends  lament  that  he 
should  not  die  in  his  own  country,  he  said,  "  Be  not  un- 
easy ;  from  every  place  there  is  a  passage  to  the  regions 
below."  "  Would  you  be  revenged  upon  your  enemy," 
said  Diogenes,  "  be  virtuous,  that  he  may  have  nothing 
to  say  against  you."1 

DIOGENES  APOLLONIATES,  or  of  Apollonia,  in 
the  island  of  Crete,  was  a  disciple  of  Anaximenes,  and  the 
successor  of  Anaxagoras  in  the  Ionic  school.  Following 
the  steps  of  his  master,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  contem- 
plation of  nature ;  not,  however,  without  mingling  with 
the  severer  pursuits  of  philosophy  the  study  of  eloquence. 
This  qualified  him  to  execute  the  office  of  preceptor  with 
great  reputation,  both  at  Miletus  and  at  Athens.  But  his 
success,  and  perhaps  his  opinions,  excited  so  much  jea- 
lousy and  aversion  among  the  Athenians,  that,  like  Anax- 
agoras, he  was  obliged  to  provide  for  his  safety  by  flight. 
What  befel  him  afterwards,  or  what  was  the  exact  time  of 
his  birth  or  death,  is  unknown.  With  Anaximenes,  he 
taught  that  air,  or  a  subtle  ether,  is  the  first  material  prin- 
ciple in  nature,  but  that  it  partakes  of  a  divine  intelligence, 
without  which  nothing  could  be  produced.  From  com- 
paring the  imperfect  accounts  of  his  doctrine  which  re- 
main, with  the  opinions  of  his  predecessors,  it  appeals 
probable  that  he  conceived  the  infinite  ether  to  be  ani- 
mated by  a  divine  mind,  and  all  things  to  be  formed  from 
this  compound  principle.3 

DIOGENES,  called  the  BABYLONIAN,  from  his  birth- 
place, Seleucia,  near  Babylon,  flourished  in  the  second 

1  Brucker.— Diogenes  Laertius. — Fenelon's  Lives  of  the  Philosophers. — Gen. 
Diet. — Stanley's  Hist,  of  Philosophy. — Saxii  Onomast. 
8  Gen.  Diet. — Brucker, — DiogCHes  Laertius. — Moreri. 

I  2 


116  DIOGENES. 

century  B.  C.  He  was  the  disciple  of  Chrysippus,  and 
the  successor  of  Zeno  of  Tarsus,  where  he  taught  the 
principles  of  his  sect  with  unwearied  diligence,  and  a  high 
reputation.  He  was  the  author  of  several  works  on  divi- 
nation, the  laws,  learning,  &c.  which  have  been  quoted 
with  respect  by  Cicero  and  others.  He  is  said  to  have 
lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years,  and  philosophized 
to  the  last.  That  he  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  contem- 
poraries, is  evident  from  his  being  appointed  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Carneades,  the  head  of  the  academies,  and  Cri- 
tolaus,  the  chief  of  the  peripatetic  school,  to  the  embassy 
to  Home ;  and  as  a  proof  how  well  his  practice  conformed 
to  his  principles,  we  are  told,  that  when  he  \vas  once  dis- 
coursing against  anger,  an  insolent  young  man,  with  the 
hope  of  exposing  him  to  the  ridicule  of  his  audience,  spat 
upon  him,  and  otherwise  contumeliously  treated  him, 
upon  which  the  philosopher  observed  with  meekness,  "  I 
am  not  angry,  but  I  am  doubtful  whether  I  ought  not  to 
be  so."1 

DIOGENES  LAERTIUS,  so  called  from  Laerta,  or 
Laertes,  a  town  of  Cilicia,  where  he  is  supposed  to  have 
been  born,  is  an  ancient  Greek  author,  who  wrote  ten  books 
of  the  Lives  of  the  Philosophers,  still  extant.  In  what  age 
he  flourished,  is  not  easy  to  determine.  The  oldest  writers 
who  mention  him  are  Sopater  Alexandrinus,  who  lived 
in  the  time  of  Constantine  the  Great,  and  Hesychius  Mile- 
sius,  who  lived  under  Justinian.  Diogenes  often  speaks  in 
terms  of  approbation  of  Plutarch  and  Phavorinus;  and  there- 
fore, as  Plutarch  lived  under  Trajan,  and  Phavorinus  under 
Hadrian,  it  is  certain  that  he  could  not  flourish  before  the 
reigns  of  those  emperors.  Menage  has  fixed  him  to  the  time 
of  Severus ;  that  is,  about  the  year  of  Christ  200 ;  and 
from  certain  expressions  in  his  works,  some  have  fancied 
him  to  have  been  a  Christian ;  however,  as  Menage  ob- 
serves, the  immoderate  praises  he  bestows  upon  Epicurus 
will  not  suffer  us  to  believe  this,  but  incline  us  rather  to 
suppose  that  he  was  an  Epicurean.  He  divided  his  Lives 
into  books,  and  inscribed  them  to  a  learned  lady  of  the 
Platonic  school,  as  he  himself  intimates  in  his  life  of  Plato. 
Montaigne  was  so  fond  of  this  author,  that,  instead  of  one 
Laertius,  he  wishes  we  had  a  dozen  ;  and  Vossius  says,  that 
his  work  is  as  precious  as  old  gold.  Without  doubt  we  are 

1  Brucker,— Diogenes  Laertius. 


DIOGENES.  117 

greatly  obliged  to  him  for  what  we  know  of  the  ancient 
philosophers  ;  and  if  he  had  been  as  exact  in  the  execu- 
tion, as  he  was  judicious  in  the  choice  of  his  subject,  we 
had  been  more  obliged  to  him  still.  Bishop  Burnet,  in  the 
preface  to  his  Life  of  sir  Matthew  Hale,  justly  speaks  of 
him  in  the  following  manner:  "There  is  no  hook  tne  an- 
cients have  left  us,"  says  he,  "  which  might  have  informed 
us  more  than  Diogenes  Laertius's  Lives  of  the  Philosophers, 
if  he  had  had  the  art  of  writing  equal  to  that  great  subject 
which  he  undertook  :  for  if  he  had  given  the  world  such  an 
account  of  them,  as  Gassendus  has  done  of  Peiresc,  how 
great  a  stock  of  knowledge  might  we  have  had,  which  by 
his  unskilfulness  is  in  a  great  measure  lost !  since  we  must, 
now  depend  only  on  him,  because  we  have  no  other  and 
better  author  who  has  written  on  that  argument."  He  is 
no  where  observed  to  be  a  rigid  affecter  or  favourer  of  any 
sect;  which  makes  it  somewhat  probable,  that  he  was  a 
follower  of  Potomon  of  Alexandria,  who,  after  all  the  rest, 
and  a  little  before  his  time,  established  a  sect  which  were 
called  Eclectics,  from  their  choosing  out  of  every  sect  vviv.t 
they  thought  the  best.  His  books  shew  him  to  have  been 
a  man  of  universal  reading  ;  but  as  a  writer  he  is  very  ex- 
ceptionable, both  as  to  the  disposal  and  the  defect  of  his 
materials.  Brucker,  whose  opinion  must  be  of  sterling 
value,  in  estimating  the  merits  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  says, 
that  "  he  has  collected  from  the  ancients  with  little  judg- 
ment, patched  together  contradictory  accounts,  relied 
upon  doubtful  authorities,  admitted  as  facts  many  tales 
which  were  produced  in  the  schools  of  the  sophists,  and 
has  been  inattentive  to  methodical  arrangement."  Dio- 
genes also  composed  a  book  of  epigrams,  to  which  he  re- 
fers. The  best  edition  is  that  of  Meibomius,  Amst.  1692, 
2  vols.  4to ;  yet  Rossius,  in  his  "  Commentationes  Laer- 
tianae,"  has  convicted  Meibomius  of  innumerable  errors.1 

DIONIS  (PETER),  an  eminent  French  surgeon  and  wri- 
ter, was  born  at  Paris,  and  became  surgeon  in  ordinary  to 
Maria  Teresa  of  Austria,  queen  of  France,  and  to  the 
dauphinesses  and  the  royal  family.  These  honours  were 
bestowed  in  consequence  of  the  fame  which  he  acquired  as 
lecturer  in  surgery  and  anatomy  in  the  royal  gardens  at 
Paris,  an  office  founded  by  Louis  XIV.  He  retained  this 

1  Vossius  de  Hist.  Grace. — Fabr.  Bjbl.  Grace.— Brucker. — Saxii  Onomast.— * 
Dibdin's  Classics. 


118  D  I  O  N  I  S. 

and  his  other  offices  with  increasing  reputation,  until  his 
death,  Dec.  11,  1718.  His  first  publication  was  "  Histoire 
anatomique  d'une  matrice  extraordinaire,"  1683.  In  1690, 
he  published  "  Anatomic  de  1'homme  suivant  la  circulation 
du  sang,  et  les  nouvelles  decouvertes,"  8vo,  an  useful  epi- 
tome, containing  all  that  was  then  known  on  the  subject. 
It  was  well  received,  frequently  reprinted,  and  was  trans- 
lated in  1718,  into  the  Tartar  language,  by  order  of 
Cam-hi,  the  emperor  of  China,  for  the  benefit  of  his  sub- 
jects. His  next  work,  which  first  appeared  in  1707,  was 
"  Cours  d'Operations  de  Chirurgie  demontree,  au  Jardin 
Royal  de  Paris,"  8vo.  This  has  been  reprinted  still  more 
frequently  than  the  former  work,  and  has  been  translated 
into  nearly  all  the  modern  languages.  Heister  gave  an 
edition  of  it  in  Latin,  with  notes,  and  it  still  retains  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  credit.  In  1709,  he  gave  "  Dissertation  sur 
la  mort  subite,  avec  1'histoire  d'une  fille  cataleptique," 
12mo;  and  in  1718,  "  Traite  general  des  Accouchmens," 
8vo.  This  also  has  been  translated  into  most  modern  lan- 
guages, though  it  contains  little  more  than  an  abridgment 
of  the  practice  of  Mauriceau,  and  is  now  almost  entirely 
unnoticed.1 

DIONIS  DU  SEJOUR  (ACHILLES  PETER),  one  of  the 
first  French  astronomers  of  the  last  century,  was  born  at 
Paris  Jan.  1 1,  1734,  and  appears  to  have  been  educated  to 
the  profession  of  the  law,  as  he  became  a  counsellor  of 
parliament ;  but  his  fame  is  more  solidly"  established  on  his 
astronomical  pursuits.  In  the  former  capacity,  however, 
he  was  appointed  a  deputy  from  the  noblesse  of  Paris  as 
one  of  their  representatives  in  the  constituent  assembly. 
His  conduct  here  appears  to  have  been  moderate,  and  even 
praiseworthy,  as  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  succes- 
sion of  tyrants  who  ruined  their  country,  and  was  obliged 
to  escape  to  some  secure  place  of  retirement,  where  he 
died  in  August  1794.  During  his  more  prosperous  ca- 
reer, he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  royal  societies  of 
London  (in  1775)  and  of  Stockholm  and  Gottingen,  and 
contributed  many  papers  to  Memoirs  of  the  academy  of 
sciences  at  Paris,  of  which  he  was  also  a  member.  His 
principal  works,  all  of  high  value,  are,  1.  "  Traite  des 
courbes  algebraiques,"  1756,  12mo.  2.  "  Methode  gene- 

i  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist.— Haller.— Manget,  where  there  is  a  portrait  of  him, 
•-Rees's  Cyclopaedia. 


D  I  O  N  I  S.  119 

rale  et  directe  pour  resoudre  les  problemes  relatifs  aux 
eclipses,"  read  in  the  academy.  3.  "  Recherches  sur  la 
gnomonique  et  les  retrogradations  des  Planetes,"  1761, 
8vo.  4.  "  Traite"  analytique  des  mouvemens  apparens  des 
corps  celestes,"  1774,  2  vols.  4to.  6.  "  Essai  sur  les 
Cometes  en  general,  et  en  particulier  sur  celles  qui  peu- 
vent  approcher  de  1'orbite  de  la  terre,"  17"  -",  svo  ;  a  work, 
says  its  reviewer,  which  deserves  undoubtedly  to  be  placed 
among  astronomical  productions  of  the  first  rank,  and  in 
which  the  learned  author  has  omitted  nothing  that  has  the 
least  relation  towards  the  general  theory  of  comets.  Ac- 
cordingly the  commissaries,  who  were  appointed  by  the 
royal  academy  of  sciences  at  Paris  to  examine  this  work, 
declared  that  it  contained  the  most  complete  theory  of 
comets  hitherto  given.  6.  "  Essai  sur  les  phenomenes  re- 
latifs aux  disparitions  periodiques  del'anneaude  Saturne," 
1776,  8vo.  This  work  amply  supported  the  character 
which  the  author  had  established  by  his  former  writings, 
and  it  received  the  unanimous  approbation  of  D'Alembert, 
Borda,  Vaudermonde,  Bezout,  and  La  Place,  the  members 
of  the  academy  who  were  appointed  to  examine  it.  * 

DIONYSIUS  (PERIEGETES),  was  an  ancient  poet  and 
geographer,  concerning  whom  we  have  no  certain  infor- 
mation but  what  we  derive  from  the  elder  Pliny.  Pliny, 
speaking  of  the  Persian  Alexandria,  afterwards  called  An- 
tioch,  and  at  last  Charrax,  could  not  miss  the  opportunity 
of  paying  his  respects  to  a  person  who  had  so  much  ob- 
liged him,  and  whom  he  professes  to  follow  above  all  men 
in  the  geographical  part  of  his  work.  He  tells  us,  that 
*'  Dionysius  was  a  native  of  this  Alexandria,  and  that  he 
had  the  honour  to  be  sent  by  Augustus  to  survey  the 
eastern  part  of  the  world,  and  to  make  reports  and  obser- 
vations about  its  state  and  condition,  for  the  use  of  the 
emperor's  eldest  son,  who  was  at  that  time  preparing  an 
expedition  into  Armenia,  Parthia,  and  Arabia."  This  pas- 
sage, though  seemingly  explicit  enough,  has  not  been 
thought  sufficient  by  the  critics  to  determine  the  time 
when  Dionysius  lived,  whether  under  the  first  Augustus 
Caesar,  or  under  some  of  the  later  emperors,  who  assumed 
his  name :  Vossius  and  others  are  of  opinion,  that  the  for- 
mer is  the  emperor  meant  by  Pliny ;  but  Scaliger  and 
Salmasius  think  he  lived  under  Severus,  or  Marcus  Aure- 

1  Dick  Hiit. — Month.  Rev.  vol.  Hi.  and  liv. 


120  D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  S. 

lias,  about  A.  D.  130  or  150.  Dionysius  wrote  a  great 
number  of  pieces,  enumerated  by  Suidas  and  his  commen- 
tator Eustathius  :  but  his  "  Periegesis,"  or  survey  of  the 
world,  is  the  only  one  we  have  remaining;  and  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  say,  that  this  is  one  of  the  most  exact 
systems  of  ancient  geography,  when  it  has  been  already 
observed,  that  Pliny  himself  proposed  it  for  his  pattern. 
It  is  written  in  Greek  hexameters ;  but  some  think  that 
Dionysius  is  no  more  to  be  reckoned  a  poet,  than  any  of 
those  authors  who  have  included  precepts  in  numbers,  for 
the  sake  of  assisting  the  memory.  Yet,  although  his  book 
is  more  valuable  for  matter  than  manner,  it  has  been 
thought  that  he  had  a  genius  capable  of  more  sublime 
undertakings,  and  that  he  constantly  made  the  Muses  the 
companions,  though  not  the  guides,  of  his  travels.  As 
proofs  of  this,  we  are  referred  to  his  descriptions  of  the 
island  of  Lucca,  inhabited  by  departed  heroes  ;  of  the 
monstrous  and  terrible  whales  in  Taprobana ;  of  the  poor 
Scythians  that  dwelt  by  the  Meotic  lake ;  to  the  account 
of  himself,  when  he  comes  to  describe  the  Caspian  sea, 
and  of  the  swans  and  bacchanals  on  the  banks  of  Cayster, 
which  shew  him  to  have  possessed  no  small  share  of  poetic 
spirit. 

The  "Periegesis"  has  been  published  several  times  with 
and  without  the  commentaries  of  Eustathius ;  but  the 
neatest  edition  is  that  printed  by  Thwaites,  at  Oxford  in 
1697  ;  the  best  and  most  useful  that  enlarged  and  im- 
proved with  notes  and  illustrations  by  Hill,  Lond.  1688  and 
1708.  Dr.  Wells's  "  Dionysii  Geographia  emendata," 
1707,  8vo,  has  been  often  reprinted,  and  is  held  in  estima- 
tion ;  Dr.  John  Free  translated  it  in  his  "  Tyrocinium 
Geographicum  Londinense."1 

DIONYSIUS  (HALICARNASSENSIS),  a  historian  and  cri- 
tic of  antiquity,  was  born  at  Halicarnassus,  a  town  in  Caria; 
which  is  also  memorable  for  having  before  produced  Hero- 
dotus. He  came  to  Rome  soon  after  Augustus  had  put  an 
end  to  the  civil  wars,  which  was  about  30  years  before 
Christ;  and  continued  there,  as  he  himself  relates,  twenty- 
two  years,  learning  the  Latin  tongue,  and  making  all  ne- 
cessary provision  for  the  design  he  had  conceived  of  writ- 
ing the  Roman  history.  To  this  purpose  he  read  over,  as 

l  Vossius  de  Hist.  Grtec. — Dodwell's  Dissert  de  Dionysio,  in  vol.  IV.  Geog. 
Minor.  Hudson!.— Fabr.  Bibl.  Grsec.— Saxii  Onomast. 


D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  S.  121 

he  tells  us,  all  the  commentaries  and  annals  of  those  Ro-  , 
mans  who  had  written  with  any  reputation   about  the  anti- 
quities and  transactions  of  their  state  ;  of  such  as  old  Cato, 
Fabius    Maximus,   Valerius  Antias,    Licinius  Macer,   and 
others  ;  but  owns,  after  all,  that  the  conferences  he  had 
with  the  great  and  learned  men  at  Rome  upon  this  subject, 
were  almost  as  serviceable  to  him  as  any  thing  he  had  read. 
His  history  is  entitled  "  Of  the  Roman  antiquities,"    and 
was   comprised    in   twenty  books,  of  which  only  the  first 
eleven  are  now  extant.     They  conclude  with   the  time 
when  the  consuls  resumed  the  chief  authority  of  the  re- 
public, after  the  government  of  the  decemviri ;  which  hap- 
pened 312  years  after  the  foundation  of  Rome.     The  en- 
tire work  extended  to  the  beginning  of  the  first  Punic  war, 
ending  where  Polybius  begins  his  history,  which  is  about 
200  years  later.   Some  have  imagined  that  Dionysius  never 
ended  his  work,  but  was   prevented  by  death  from  com- 
posing  any  more  than   eleven  books    out  of  the  twenty 
which  he  had  promised  the  public  ;  but  this  is  contrary  to 
the  express  testimony  of  Stepbanus,  a  Greek  author,   who 
quotes    the   16th  and    17th   books  of  Dionysius' s  Roman 
antiquities  ;    and  Photius,    in  his  Bibliotheca,   says,    that 
he  had  read  all  the  twenty,  and  had  seen  the  compendium 
or  abridgment  which  Dionysius  made   of  his  own  history 
into  five  books,  but  which  is  now  lost.     The  reputation  of 
this  historian  stands  very  high  on  many  accounts,  notwith- 
standing the  severe  attacks  made  on  him  by  Mr.  Hooke,  in 
his  "  Observations,  &c."  on  Middleton  and  Chapman,  &c. 
1750,  4to.     As  to  what  relates  to  chronology,  all  the  critics 
have  been  apt  to  prefer  him  even  to  Livy  himself :  and 
Scaliger  declares,  in   his   animadversions   upon   Eusebius, 
that  we  have  no  author  remaining,   who  has   so  well  ob- 
served the  order  of  years.     He  is  no  less  preferable  to  the 
Latins  on  account  of  the  matter    of  his  history  ;  for  his 
being  a  stranger  was  so  far  from  being  prejudicial  to  him, 
that  on  this  single  consideration  he  made  it  his  business  to 
preserve  an  infinite  number  of  particulars,  most  curious  to 
us,  which  their  own  authors  neglected  to  write,  either  be- 
cause, by  reason  of  their  familiarity,  they  thought  them 
below  notice,  or  that  all  the  world  knew  them  as  well  as 
themselves.      His  style   and   diction,    however,   although 
pure,  insomuch  that  many  have  thought  him  the  best  author 
to  be  studied  by  those  who  would  attain  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  the  Greek  tongue,  is  not  so  elegant  or  lively  as 


D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  8. 

that  of  Livy,   to  whom  he  has  been  compared  in  historic 
merit. 

Besides  the  Roman  Antiquities,  there  are  other  writings 
of  his  extant,  critical  and  rhetorical.     His  most  admired 
piece  in  this  way  is  "  De  structura  Orationis,"  first  printed 
by  Aldus  at  Venice  in  1508,  which  has  undergone  several 
impressions  since,  with  a   Latin  version  joined  to  it ;  the 
last  and  best  by  Upton,  printed  at  London  in  1702.     Se^ 
veral  other  compositions  of  the  same  kind,  as  his  "  Vita 
Isa^i   et   Dinarchi  ;"     "  Judicium   de   Lysia ;"    "  Homeri 
vita;"  "  De  Priscis  Scriptoribus ;"  "  De  antiquis  Orato- 
ribus,"  of  which   Rowe  Mores   published    an    edition  in 
1749,  reprinted  in  1781,  after  his  death,  with  additional 
notes  taken  from  his  copy  of  Hudson's  edition  of  Dionysius. 
All  these  shew  Dionysius  to  have  been  a  man  of  taste  in 
the   belles  lettres,  and  of  great   critical   exactness;  and 
nothing  can  more  clearly  convince  us  of  the  vast  reputa- 
tion and  high  authority  he  possessed  at  Rome  among  the 
learned,  than  Pompey's  singling  him  out  to  give  a  judg- 
ment of  the  first  Greek  historians,  and  especially  of  Hero- 
dotus and  Xenophon.     There  is  extant  a  letter  of  his  upon 
this  subject,  written  to  Pompey,  at  Pompey's  own  request ; 
and  if  there  be  any  thing  exceptionable  in  that  letter,  or 
in  the  other  critical  and  rhetorical  pieces  of  Dionysius,  it 
is,  that  he  was  too  rigorous   in   his  criticisms,  and   con- 
tended too  obstinately   for  perfection   in  an  historian  or 
orator.     His  finding  fault  with  Plato  upon  his  rigid  prin- 
ciples, was  one  of  the  occasions  of  the  letter  which  Pompey 
wrote  to  him  :  and  we  see  by  his  answer^  that  though,  to 
gratify  Pompey,  he  professes  himself  an  admirer  of  Plato, 
he  does  not  forbear  to  prefer  Demosthenes  to  him ;  pro- 
testing, that  it  was  only  to   give  the  whole  advantage  to 
the  latter,  that  he  exercised  his  censure  against  the  former. 
Nevertheless  it  appears,  that  at  another  season   he  spared 
Demosthenes  no   more  than  the  rest ;  so  prone  was  his 
inclination  to  find  fault,  merely  because  writers  did  not, 
in  their  works,  come  up  to  that  ideal  perfection  which  he 
had  conceived  in  his  mind.     The  best  edition  of  all  Dio- 
nysius's  works  is  that  by  Hudson,   at  Oxford,  1704,  in  2 
vols.  fol.     His  Roman  History  was  translated  into  English 
by  Edward   Spelman,  esq.    1757,  4  vols.  4to,  with   consi- 
derable fidelity   and   elegance,  and  illustrated  with  some 
dissertations,  by  which  it  appears  that  Mr.  Spelman  had  de- 
voted  much  time  and  study  to  his  favourite  author,  as  well 


D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  S.  123 

tis  to  his  subject;  but  he  has  likewise  bestowed  very  un- 
necessary pains  in  exhibiting  the  defects  of  the  French 
translators.1 

D1ONYSIUS  (HALICARNASSENSIS),  junior,  flourished, 
according  to  Suidas,  under  the  emperor  Adrian,  and  wrote 
twenty-six  books  of  the  "  History  of  Musicians,"  in  which 
he  celebrated  not  only  the  great  performers  on  the  flute 
and  cithara,  but  those  who  had  risen  to  eminence  by  every 
species  of  poetry.  He  was,  likewise,  author  of  five  books, 
written  in  defence  of  music,  and  chiefly  in  refutation  of 
what  is  alleged  against  it  in  Plato's  Republic.  Aristides 
Quintilianus  has  also  endeavoured  to  soften  the  severity 
of  some  animadversions  against  music  in  the  writings  of 
Cicero ;  but  though  time  has  spared  the  defence  of  this 
author,  yet  it  does  not  indemnify  us  for  the  loss  of  that 
which  Dionysius  junior  left  behind  him  ;  as  testimonies  are 
still  remaining  or  his  having  been  a  much  more  able  writer 
than  Aristides  Quintilianus. 

The  loss  of  the  entire  works  of  this  writer  is  severely  felt 
by  all  musical  historians,  but  particularly  by  those  who 
seek  information  concerning  the  music  and  musicians  of 
the  ancient  Greeks.2 

DIONYSIUS  (AREOPAGITA)  was  born  at  Athens,  and 
educated  there.  He  went  afterwards  to  Heliopolis  in 
-/Egypt ;  where,  if  we  may  believe  some  writers  of  his  life, 
he  saw  that  wonderful  eclipse  which  happened  at  our  Sa- 
viour's passion,  and  was  urged  by  some  extraordinary  im- 
pulse to  cry  out,  "  Ant  Deus  patitur,  aut  cum  patiente 
dolet ;"  Either  God  himself  suffers,  or  condoles  with  him 
who  does.  At  his  return  to  Athens  he  was  elected  into 
the  court  of  Areopagus,  from  whence  he  derived  his  name 
of  Areopagite.  About  the  year  50  he  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, and,  as  some  say,  was  appointed  first  bishop  of 
Athens  by  St.  Paul,  and  consecrated  by  his  hands.  Of  his 
conversion  we  have  this  account  in  Acts  xvii.  :  Paul, 
preaching  at  Athens,  was  brought  before  the  Areopagus, 
to  give  account  of  himself  and  his  doctrine.  He  harangued 
in  that  court,  taking  occasion  to  speak  against  the  prevail- 
ing idolatry  of  the  place,  from  an  altar  which  he  found 
with  this  inscription,  "  To  the  unknown  God."  The  event 

i  Fabric.    Bibl.   Grasc. — Vossius   <le    Hist.    Grxc.— Dibdin's   Classics— and 
Clarke's  Bibliographical  Dictionary.— Saxii  Onomast. 
*  Suidas. — Rees's  Cyclopsdia. 


12*  DIONYSIUS. 

of  which  preaching  was,  as  the  sacred  historian  tells  us, 
that  "  certain  men  clave  unto  him,  and  believed  ;  among 
the  which  was  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  a  woman  named 
Damaris,  and  others  with  them."  He  is  supposed  to  have 
suffered  martyrdom;  but  whether  under  Domitian,  Trajan, 
or  Adrian,  is  not  certain. 

The  works  ascribed  to  this  Dionysius,  printed  at  Co- 
logne in  1536,  at  Antwerp,  1634,  and  at  Paris,  1644,  2 
vols.  fol.  are  generally  allowed  to  be  spurious,  and  pro- 
bably were  written  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century,  as  they 
abound  with  the  mystical  trifles  of  the  Plotinian  school.1 

DIONYSIUS,  bishop  of  Corinth,  flourished  under  the 
reigns  of  Marcus  Antoninus  and  Commodus  ;  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  year  178.  We 
know  little  more  of  him  than  what  appears  from  some  of 
his  epistles,  preserved  by  Eusebius  :  from  which  we  learn, 
that  he  was  not  only  very  diligent  in  his  pastoral  care  over 
the  flock  committed  to  him,  but  that  he  extended  this 
care  likewise  to  the  inhabitants  of  all  other  countries  and 
cities.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  in  which 
he  exhorts  them  to  peace  and  concord ;  another  to  the 
Athenians,  in  which  he  recommends  purity  of  faith  and 
evangelical  holiness;  a  third  to  the  Nicomedians,  to  guard 
them  against  the  heresy  of  Marciou ;  a  fourth  to  the 
churches  of  Crete  ;  a  fifth  to  the  churches  of  Pontus  ;  a 
sixth  to  the  Gnossians,  in  which  he  admonishes  Pinytus, 
their  bishop,  not  to  impose  too  severely  upon  the  brethren 
the  heavy  burden  of  continence,  but  to  consider  the  frail- 
ties and  infirmities  of  the  flesh  ;  a  proof  that  monastic 
austerities  were  beginning  at  this  early  period  of  the 
church.  He  wrote  also  a  seventh  letter  to  the  Romans,  in 
which  he  mentions  the  famous  epistle  of  Clemens  to  the 
Corinthians ;  which,  as  we  learn  from  him,  was  wont  at 
that  time  to  be  publicly  read  in  their  churches.  He  re- 
commends to  them  also  to  continue  a  charitable  custom, 
which,  from  their  first  plantation,  they  had  always  prac- 
tised ;  namely,  to  send  relief  to  divers  churches  through- 
out the  world,  and  to  assist  particularly  those  who  were 
condemned  to  the  mines ;  a  strong  proof,  says  a  recent 
historian,  both  that  the  Roman  church  continued  opulent 
and  numerous,  and  that  they  still  partook  much  of  the 
spirit  of  Christianity.  None  of  these  epistles  are  now 

'  Cave. — Dupin. — Larclner's  Works. — Saxii  Onomast. 


D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  S.  125 

extant,   but  Eusebius  has  preserved   some   fragments  of 
them. l 

DIONYSIUS,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  a  man  of  great 
renown  in  the  church,  was  born  a  heathen,  and  of  an 
ancient  and  illustrious  family.  He  was  a  diligent  inquirer 
after  truth,  which  he  looked  for  in  vain  among  the  sects  of 
philosophers;  but  at  last  found  it  in  Christianity,  in  which 
he  was  probably  confirmed  by  his  preceptor  Origen.  He 
was  made  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Alexandria  in  the 
year  232  ;  and  in  the  year  247  was  raised  to  that  see  upon 
the  death  of  Heracles.  When  the  Decian  persecution  arose, 
lie  was  seized  by  the  soldiers  and  sent  to  Taposiris,  a  little 
town  between  Alexandria  and  Canopus;  but  he  escaped 
without  being  hurt,  of  which  there  is  an  extraordinary 
account  in  the  fragments  of  one  of  his  letters,  which  Euse- 
bius has  preserved.  He  was  less  fortunate  under  the  Va- 
lerian persecution,  which  began  in  the  year  257,  being 
then  forcibly  hurried  off  in  the  midst  of  a  dangerous  illness, 
and  banished  to  Cephrus,  a  most  desert  and  uncultivated 
region  of  Libya,  in  which  terrible  situation  he  remained 
for  three  years.  Afterwards,  when  Gallienus  published 
an  edict  of  toleration  to  the  Christians,  he  returned  to 
Alexandria,  and  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  offices 
of  his  function,  as  well  by  converting  heathens,  as  by 
suppressing  heretics.  To  the  Novatian  heresy  he  laboured 
to  put  a  stop  ;  he  endeavoured  to  quiet  the  dispute,  which 
was  risen  to  some  height,  between  Stephen  and  Cyprian, 
concerning  the  re-baptization  of  heretics  :  both  which  he 
attempted  with  Christian  moderation  and  candour,  and  it 
must  be  acknowledged  to  his  credit,  that  he  seems  to  have 
possessed  more  of  that  spirit  of  gentleness  and  meekness 
than  was  usually  to  be  found  in  those  zealous  times.  He 
does  not  indeed  appear  to  have  been  quite  so  moderate  in 
the  next  congress  which  he  had  with  Sabellius,  who  had  as- 
serted, that  "  the  substance  in  the  trinity  was  nothing  more 
than  one  person  distinguished  by  three  names  ;'''  which 
Dionysius  opposed  with  such  zeal  and  ardour,  as  to  fall 
into  the  Arian  opinion,  and  maintain,  that  there  was 
*'  not  only  a  distinction  of  persons,  but  of  essence  or  sub- 
stance also,  and  even  an  inequality  of  power  and  glory  in 
them."  Cave,  however,  excuses  this  error,  or  "  blind- 
ness," as  he  calls  it,  in  him,  because  it  flowed  from  his 

1  Cave. — Dupin.— Milner's  Church  History,  vol.  I.  p.  233. 


126  DIONYSIUS. 

intemperate  zeal  and  hatred  of  heretics,  and  because  Dio- 
nysius  was  in  all  other  respects  a  very  sound  and  orthodox 
bishop.  A  little  before  his  death  he  was  called  to  a  synod 
at  Antioch,  to  defend  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  against 
Paul  of  Samosata,  bishop  of  Antioch:  but  he  could  not 
appear  by  reason  of  his  great  age  and  infirmities.  He 
wrote  a  letter,  however,  to  that  church,  in  which  he  ex- 
plained his  own  opinion  of  the  matter,  and  refuted  Paul, 
whom  he  thought  so  very  blameable  for  advancing  such  an 
error,  that  he  did  not  deign  to  salute  him  even  by  name. 
He  died  in  the  year  267  ;  and  though  his  writings  were 
very  numerous,  yet  scarce  any  of  them  are  come  down  to 
us,  except  some  fragments  preserved  by  Eusebius. ' 

DIONYSIUS,  surnamed  EXIGUUS,  or   LITTLE,  on  ac- 
count of  his  stature,  was  a  monk  by  profession,  and  born 
in  Scythia,  where  he  is   supposed  to  have  died  about  the 
year  540,  as  Dupin  reckons,  or  556,  according  to  Cave. 
He  understood  Greek  and  Latin,  and  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  holy  scriptures.     Cassiodorus,  who  was  intimate 
with   him,  wrote  his  panegyric   in  the  23d  chapter  of  his 
book  on  divine  learning.     At  the  desire  of  Stephen,  bishop 
of  Salone,  he  made  a  collection  of  canons,   which  contains, 
besides  those   which   were   in   the  code  of  the  universal 
church,  the  fifty  first  canons  of  the  apostles,  those  of  the 
council  of  Sardica,  and  138  canons  of  the  council  of  Africa. 
This  code  of  canons  was  approved  and  received  by  the 
church  of  Rome,  and  France,  and  by  the  Latin  churches ; 
and  was  printed  by  Justel  in   1628,  with  a  version  of  the 
letter  of  St.  Cyril,  and  of  the  council  of  Alexandria  against 
Nestorius,  which  is  also  the  translation  of  Dionysius  Exi- 
guus.     He  afterwards  joined  these  with  the  decretals  of  the 
popes  from  Syricius  to  Anastasius,  to  which  have    been, 
since  added  those  of  Hilary,  Simplicius,  and  other  popes,  to 
St.  Gregory.     This  second  collection  was  printed  by  Justel 
in  his  Bibliotheca  of  Canon  law.     Dionysius  was  the  first 
who  introduced  the  way  of  counting  the  years  from   the 
birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  fixed  it  according  to  the 
epocha  of  the  vulgar  sera.     He  wrote  also  two  letters  upon 
Easter  in  the  years  525  and  526,  which  were  published  by 
Petavius  and  Buchevius  ;  and   made  a  cycle  of  95  years. 
Father  Mabillon  published  a  letter  of  his  written  to  Eugip- 
pius,  about  the  translation  which  he  made  of  a  work  of 

I  Cave. — Dupin. 


D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  S.  127 

Gregory  Nyssen,  concerning  the  creation  of  man.  With 
respect  to  the  epoch  which  he  invented,  he  began  his 
account  from  the  conception  or  incarnation,  usually  called 
the  Annunciation,  or  Lady-day ;  which  method  obtained 
yi  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain  till  1752,  before  which 
time  the  Dionysian  was  the  same  as  the  English  epoch  : 
but  in  that  year  the  Gregorian  calendar  having  been  ad- 
mitted by  act  of  parliament,  they  now  reckon  from  the 
first  of  January,  as  in  the  other  parts  of  Europe,  except 
in  the  court  of  Rome,  where  the  epoch  of  the  Incarnation 
still  obtains  for  the  date  of  their  bulls.1 

DIONYSIUS,  a  Greek  poet  and  musician,  was  the 
author  of  the  words  and  music  of  three  hymns,  of  which 
the  first  is  addressed  to  Calliope,  the  second  to  Apollo, 
and  the  third  to  Nemesis.  Of  these  the  music  has  been 
preserved  and  published  by  Dr.  Fell,  bishop  of  Oxford,  in 
1672.  This  precious  manuscript,  which  was  found  in  Ire- 
land, among  the  papers  of  the  famous  archbishop  Usher, 
was  bought,  after  .his  decease,  by  Mr.  Bernard,  fellow  of 
St.  John's  college,  who  communicated  it  to  the  editor, 
together  with  remarks  and  illustrations  by  the  rev.  Mr. 
Edmund  Chilinead,  of  Christ  church,  who  likewise  re- 
dueed  the  ancient  musical  characters  to  those  in  common, 
use.  It  appears  by  the  notes,  that  the  music  of  these 
hymns  was  composed  in  the  Lydian  mode,  and  diatonic 
genus.  Vincenzo  Galilei,  father  of  the  great  Galileo,  first 
published  these  hymns  with  their  Greek  notes,  in  his 
"  Dialogues  upon  Ancient  and  Modern  Music,"  printed  at 
Florence,  1581,  folio.  He  assures  us,  that  he  had  them 
from  a  Florentine  gentleman,  who  copied  them  very  accu- 
rately from  an  ancient  Greek  manuscript,  preserved  in  th« 
library  of  cardinal  St.  Angelo,  at  Rome,  which  MS.  like- 
wise contained  the  treatises  of  music  by  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus,  and  Bryennius,  since  published  by  Meibomius 
and  Dr.  Wallis.  The  Florentine  edition  of  these  hymns 
entirely  agrees  with  that  printed  at  Oxford.  In  1602,  Her- 
cules Bottrigari  mentioned  the  same  hymns  in  his  harmo- 
nical  discourse,  called  "  Melone,"  printed  at  Ferrara,  in 
4to.  But  he  derived  his  knowlege  of  these  pieces  only 
from  the  Dialogues  of  Galilei ;  however,  he  inserted,  in 
the  beginning  of  his  book,  some  fragments  of  them  in 
common  notes  j  but  they  were  disfigured  by  a  number  of 

i  Dupin. — Cave. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Lat.  Med, — Saxii.  Onomast. 


128  D  I  O  N  Y  S  I  U  g. 

typographical  errors.  At  length,  in  1720,  M.  Burette 
published  these  three  hymns  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Aca- 
demy of  Inscriptions,"  ton),  v.  from  a  copy  found  at  the 
end  of  a  Greek  manuscript  in  the  king  of  France's  library 
at  Paris,  No.  3221,  which  likewise  contained  the  musical 
treatises  of  Aristides  Quintilianus,  and  of  Bacchius  senior'. 
But  though  the  words  were  confused,  and  confounded  one 
with  another,  they  appeared  much  more  complete  in  this 
manuscript  than  elsewhere,  particularly  the  hymn  to 
Apollo,  which  had  six  verses  more  at  the  beginning ;  and 
that  to  Nemesis,  which,  though  deficient  at  the  end  in  all 
the  other  editions,  was  here  entire,  having  fourteen  verses, 
exclusive  of  the  six  first. ' 

DIOPHANTUS,  a  celebrated  mathematician  of  Alex- 
andria, has  been  reputed  to  be  the  inventor  of  algebra  ;  at 
least  his  is  the  earliest  work  extant  on  that  science.  It  is 
not  certain  when  he  lived.  Some  have  placed  him  before 
Christ,  and  some  after,  in  the  reigns  of  Nero  and  the  An- 
tonines  ;  Saxius  places  him  in  the  fourth  century.  He  ap- 
pears to  be  the  same  Diophantus  who  wrote  the  "  Canon 
Astronomicus,  which  Suidas  says  was  commented  on  by 
the  celebrated  Hypatia,  daughter  of  Theon  of  Alexandria. 
His  reputation  must  have  been  very  high  among  the  an- 
cients, since  they  ranked  him  with  Pythagoras  and  Euclid 
in  mathematical  learning.  Bachet,  in  his  notes  upon  the 
5th  book  "  De  Arithmeticis,"  has  collected,  from  Dio- 
phantus's  epitaph  in  the  Anthologia,  the  following  circum- 
stances of  his  life ;  namely,  that  he  was  married  when  he 
was  thirty-three  years  old,  and  had  asonbornfive  years  after; 
that  this  son  died  when  he  was  forty-two  years  of  age,  and 
that  his  father  did  not  survive  him  above  four  years  ;  from 
which  it  appears,  that  Diophantus  was  eighty-four  years 
old  when  he  died. 

He  wrote  thirteen  books  of  arithmetic,  or  algebra,  which, 
Regiomontanus  in  his  preface  to  Alfraganus  tells  us,  are 
still  preserved  in  manuscript  in  the  Vatican  library.  In- 
deed Diophantus  himself  tells  us  that  his  work  consisted  of 
thirteen  books,  viz.  at  the  end  of  his  address  to  Dionysius, 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  work;  and  from  hence  Re- 
giomontanus might  be  led  to  say  the  thirteen  books  were 
in  that  library.  No  more  than  six  whole  books,  with  part 
of  a  seventh,  have  ever  been  published  ;  and  it  is  probable 

1  Burney's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  T .where  the  mu  sic  is  engraved. 


D  I  O  P  H  A  N  T  U  S.  129 

there  are  no  more  in  being ;  indeed  Bombelli,  in  the  pre- 
face to  his  Algebra,  written  in  1572,  says  there  were  but 
six  of  the  books  then  in  the  library,  and  that  he  and  ano- 
ther were  about  a  translation  of  them.  Those  six  books, 
with  the  imperfect  seventh,  were  first  published  at  Basil  by 
Xylander  in  1575,  but  in  a  Latin  version  only,  with  the 
Greek  scholia  of  Maximus  Planudes  upon  the  two  first 
books,  and  observations  of  his  own.  The  same  books  were 
afterwards  published  in  Greek  and  Latin  at  Paris  in  1G2I, 
by  Bachet,  an  ingenious  and  learned  Frenchman,  who  made 
a  new  Latin  version  of  the  work,  and  enriched  it  with  very 
learned  commentaries.  Bachet  did  not  entirely  neglect 
the  notes  of  Xylander  in  his  edition,  but  he  treated  the 
scholiast  Planudes  with  the  utmost  contempt.  He  seems 
to  intimate,  in  what  he  says  upon  the  28th  question  of  the 
second  book,  that  the  six  books  which  we  have  of  Dio- 
phantus  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  collection  made  by 
some  novice,  of  such  propositions  as  he  judged  proper, 
out  of  the  whole  thirteen  :  but  Fabricius  thinks  there  is» 
no  just  ground  for  such  a  supposition.  From  him,  certain 
questions  relating  to  square  and  cubic  numbers,  and  to 
right-angled  triangles,  have  been  called  Diophantine  pro- 
blems, because  the  nature  of  them  was  first  and  chiefly 
treated  of  by  him  in  his  arithmetic,  or  rather  algebra. l 

DIOSCOIUDES  (PEDACIUS),  an  eminent  physician  of 
Anaxarba,  since  called  Ceesarea,  in  Cilicia,  flourished  iu 
the  reign  of  Nero,  in  the  first  century,  and  composed  five 
books  of  the- Materia  Medica.  Fabricius  is  certain,  that 
he  composed  these  books  before  Pliny  wrote  his  Natural 
History,  although  he  supposes  Pliny  might  reach  the  age 
of  Dioscorides.  Pliny  has  indeed  made  no  mention  of 
him,  and  yet  relates  many  things  of  a  very  similar  nature; 
which  circumstances  Fabricius  imputes  to  their  both  hav- 
ing collected  their  materials  from  the  same  store-house, 
and  to  Pliny's  not  having  seen  the  books  of  Dioscorides. 
This  physician  tells  us,  in  the  preface  of  his  first  book,  that 
he  had  consulted  all  who  had  written  upon  the  Materia 
Medica  before  him  ;  that  to  the  information  he  had  received 
from  others,  he  had  joined  great  application  of  his  own  ; 
that  he  had  travelled  over  many  countries,  for  the  sake  of 
confirming  by  observation  what  he  had  learned  from  books; 

1  Fabric.  Bibl.  Graec. — Hutton's  Dictionary. — Montucla   Hist.  Math. — V»S« 
skis  de  Scieut.  Math. — Moreri. 

VOL.  XII.  K 


130  DIOSCORIDES. 

that  he  had  corrected  many  errors  of  others,  added  many 
new  things  of  his  own,  and  digested  the  whole  into  a  regu- 
lar order.  Salmasius  considers  all  this  as  so  much  boast- 
ing, and  treats  Dioscorides  as  merely  a  laborious  compiler, 
or  pillager  of  others  ;  but  Galen  has  pronounced  these 
books  of  Dioscorides  to  be  the  best  that  had  been  written 
upon  the  subject,  and  it  is  evident  that  in  the  early  stages 
of  botanical  science  he  was  looked  up  to  with  a  reverence 
which  is  no  longer  paid.  His  object  being  solely  the  Ma- 
teria  Medica,  he  discusses  each  subject  specifically,  and  in 
a  separate  chapter,  dividing  the  whole  into  five  books  ;  in 
which,  as  far  as  any  order  takes  place,  they  arrange  into 
aromatic,  alimentary,  and  medicinal  plants.  His  descrip- 
tions are  chiefly  taken  from  colour,  size,  mode  of  growing, 
comparison  of  the  leaves  and  roots,  with  other  plants  well 
known,  and  therefore  left  undescribed.  In  general  they 
are  short,  and  frequently  insufficient  to  determine  the  spe- 
cies ;  and  hence  arise  the  endless  and  irreconcileable  con- 
tentions among  his  commentators.  In  this  manner,  how- 
ever, he  has  described  near  700  plants;  to  which  he  sub- 
joins the  virtues  and  uses  ;  and  to  him  all  posterity  have 
appealed  as  decisive  on  the  subject. 

Besides  these  five  books,  there  are  a  sixth  and  a  seventh 
mentioned  by  Photius ;  but  the  genuineness  of  them  is 
justly  doubted,  since  Galen  takes  no  notice  of  them  in  se- 
veral places  where  he  could  hardly  be  supposed  to  overlook 
them.  There  are  also  two  other  books  "  upon  simple  and 
compound  medicines  easy  to  be  come  at,"  which  have  been 
attributed  to  Dioscorides  ;  but  these  are  supposed  to  be 
spurious,  though  they  seem  to  have  borne  his  name  when 
,/Etius  read  them.  Several  manuscripts  of  this  author's 
works  with  figures  are  extant,  which  have  often  been  cited 
by  his  commentators.  Of  these  the  most  celebrated  is  in 
the  imperial  library  at  Vienna,  the  figures  of  which  \\ere 
partly  engraved  in  the  reign  of  the  empress  Ptlaria  Theresa, 
under  the  inspection  of  Jacquin.  Two  impressions  only 
of  these  plates,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  have  ever  beeiv 
taken  off,  as  the  work  was  not  prosecuted.  Of  these,  one 
was  sent  to  Linnaeus,  with  notes  by  Jacquin,  and  is  now  in 
the  valuable  library  of  Dr.  Smith  ;  the  other  was  given,  out 
of  professor  Jacquin's  own  library,  to  Dr.  Sibthorp,  to  as- 
sist his  inquiries  in  Greece,  and  remains  at  O.vford.  The 
LimiEcan  copy  consists  of  142  plates,  in  oblong  quarto,  in 
alphabetical  order ;  but  nothing  can  be  more  rude  than 


D  I  O  S  C  O  R  I  D  E  S.  131 

these  figures  ;  and  they  scarcely  afford  any  information 
that  is  not  familiar  to  botanists  versed  in  the  subject.  Hal- 
ler  asserts,  that  perhaps  a  third  part  of  the  plants  of  Dios- 
corides  is  still  unknown,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will 
never  be  entirely  determined.  The  inquiry,  indeed,  at 
present,  is  rather  a  matter  of  curiosity  than  of  any  consi- 
derable medical  importance.  Dioscorides  was  first  pub- 
lished at  Cologn,  in  a  Latin  translation,  1478,  fol.io,  and  ia 
the  original  by  Aldus,  1495,  folio.  It  was  afterwards  pub- 
lished in  Latin  by  Hermolaus  Barbartis,  and  Ruellius, 
1516  ;  by  Vergilius,  1518  ;  and  by  Cornarus,  1529,  all  in. 
folio.  There  are  many  other  editions,  but  the  learned  pre- 
fer that  with  a  translation  by  Saracenus,  Lyons,  1598,  and 
Francfort,  1 620,  folio. l 

DIPPEL  (JoHN  CONRAD),  an  author  famous  for  his  ex- 
travagancies, and  who  styled  himself  in  his  writings  Chris- 
tianus  Democritus,  was  born  Aug.  10,  1672,  at  Franken- 
stein, near  Darmstadt,  where  he  commenced  his  studies. 
He  afterwards  studied  philosophy  and  theology  at  Giessen, 
where  he  took  his  master's  degree  in  1693.  He  began  his 
literary  career  by  a  controversy  with  the  pietists,  a  sect 
against  which  he  declaimed  publicly  at  Strasburg.  Being 
obliged,  for  some  irregularities,  to  quit  that  city,  he  re- 
turned to  Giessen,  and  shewed  himself  as  zealous  in  be- 
half of  pietism  as  he  had  been  before  in  opposition  to  it. 
Having  failed  in  his  views  of  getting  a  wife,  and  a  profes- 
sor's chair,  he  threw  off  the  mask,  and  openly  attacked  the 
reformed  religion,  in  his  "  Papismus  Protestantium  vapu- 
lans."  This  book  having  incensed  the  protestants  against 
him,  he  abandoned  theology  for  chemistry  ;  and  gave  out, 
that,  after  a  process  of  eight  months,  he  had  succeeded  in 
making  a  sufficient  quantity  of  gold  to  enable  him  to  keep 
a  country  house,  which  he  bought  for  50,000  florins;  but 
he  was  at  that  time  actually  in  the  utmost  indigence  ;  and 
could  think  of  no  better  expedient  for  avoiding  the  pur- 
suit of  his  creditors  than  by  commencing  his  travels.  After 
having  run  over  various  countries,  Berlin,  Copenhagen, 
Francfort,  Leyden,  Amsterdam,  Altona,  Hamburgh,  and 
having  experienced  the  discipline  of  the  prison  in  every 
one,  he  was  invited  to  Stockholm  in  1727  to  prescribe  for 
the  king  of  Sweden.  The  clergy  of  that  kingdom,  pleased 

'  Moreri.— Haller  Bib!.  Bot.— Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr»c. — Pulteney's  Sketches-* 
Rees's  Cyclopxdia. 

K    2 


132  D  I  P  P  E  L. 

*• 

with  the  hope  of  the  king's  recovery,  but  unwilling  to  owe 
it  to  a  man  that  openly  derided  their  religion,  procured  an 
order  for  the  medical  alchemist  to  quit  the  kingdom. 
Dippel  returned  to  Germany,  without  having  changed 
either  his  opinions  or  his  conduct.  The  report  of  his  death 
having  been  several  times  falsely  propagated,  he  in  1733 
published  a  sort  of  certificate,  in  which  he  affirmed  that  he 
should  not  die  till  the  year  180$  ;  a  prophecy  which  was 
not  fulfilled  :  for  he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  at  the  castle 
of  Witgenstein,  the  25th  of  April,  1734,  at  the  age  of  62. 

His  works  were  published  together  in  1747,  5  vols.  4to, 
and,  notwithstanding  his  many  extravagancies  and  absur- 
dities, many  have  considered  him  as  an  eminent  teacher 
of  true  piety  and  wisdom.  He  probably  deserved  more 
praise  as  a  physician  and  chemist.  He  is  said  to  have  in- 
vented Prussian  blue ;  and  there  is  still  an  oil  called 
DippePs  oil,  which  he  first  discovered,  a  powerful-sudorific, 
and  deserving  of  more  notice  than  it  now  receives. l 

DIROJS  (FRANCIS),  a  learned  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne, 
was  at  first  a  friend  to  the  society  of  Port-royal,  but  after- 
wards disagreed  with  them  on  account  of  the  formulary, 
which  he  defended  in  several  of  his  writings.  He  was  very 
intimate  with  Richard  Simon,  and  died  canon  of  Avranches 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Besides  his  works 
in  favour  of  the  formulary,  he  left  a  treatise,  entitled 
*'  Preuves  et  Prejuges  pour  la  Religion  Chretienne  et  Ca- 
tholique,  contre  les  fausses  Religions,  et  I'Atheisme,"  4to, 
much  esteemed  by  his  Roman  catholic  brethren.  It  \vas 
Dirois  who  inserted  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  each  cen- 
tury in  Mezeray's  History  of  France.8 

DISNEY  (JoiiN),  a  learned  English  divine  and  magis- 
trate, was  born  at  Lincoln  in  1677.  "At  the  grammar  school 
in  that  city  he  received  the  early  part  of  his  education,  and 
afterwards  studied  at  a  private  academy  among  the  dissen- 
ters, to  whom  his  father  was  attached.  He  was  next  en- 
tered at  the  Middle  Temple  with  a  viexv  of  making-  him- 
self so  far  acquainted  with  the  law  as  to  enable  him  to  be- 
come respectable  as  a  magistrate  and  an  author.  The  for- 
mer character  he  sustained  with  dignity  and  much  reputa- 
tion :  he  was  diligent,  disinterested,  and  impartial  in  his 
decistons  :  he  took  an  active  part  with  those  who  formed 
themselves  into  a  society  for  the  suppression  of  vice  and 

»  Moreri. — Mosbeim's  Ecdes.  Hist.  "  I.'Avocat. — Moreri. 


D  I  S  N  E  Y.  133 

HP  morality.  His  regard  to  duty  gained  him  tlie  respect  of 
the  wise  and  good,  and  on  some  occasions  he  was  singled 
out  as  meriting  the  thanks  of  the  judges  of  the  circuit  for 
.  ices  that  he  had  rendered  his  country.  As  he  advanced 
in  life,  and  after  he  hud  acted  as  a  magistrate  more  than 
twenty  years,  he  conceived  the  design  of  becoming  a  mi- 
nister in  the  church  of  England,  with  which  he  had  com- 
municated from  the  time  that  he  had  attained  to  manhood. 
He  was  accordingly  first  ordained  a  deacon,  and  afterwards, 
in  1719,  a  priest.  In  the  same  year  he  was  presented  with 
the  vicarage  of  Croft,  and  to  the  rectory  of  Kirby-super- 
Baine,  both  in  his  native  county.  In  the  year  1722,  he 
was  instituted  to  the  vicarage  of  St.  Mary  in  Nottingham, 
to  which  town  he  removed  ;  and  here  he  remained  till  his 
death,  Feb.  3,  1729-30,  in  the  53d  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  buried,  according  to  his  own  request,  in  the  chancel 
of  his  church,  near  to  the  communion-table,  having  no 
other  inscription  over  his  grave  than  the  initial  letters  of 
his  name,  and  the  year  of  his  death.  He  left  a  widow, 
who  afterwards  lived  at  her  own  family-seat,  Flintham-hall, 
in  Nottinghamshire,  and  died  there  May  20,  1763,  in  the 
86th  year  of  her  age,  by  whom  he  had  five  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

He  was  a  zealous  advocate  for,  and  a  great  friend  to,  the 
religious  societies  (particularly  that  for  the  reformation  of 
manners),  then  in  their  infancy.  His  temper  was  naturally 
warm  and  impatient ;  but  he  was  formed  by  nature  also 
with  a  generous  and  forgiving  mind,  and  his  warmth  and 
impatience  were  generally  under  the  government  of  his 
reason.  His  principles  of  religion  were  orthodox  in  re- 
gard to  points  of  doctrine  and  articles  of  faith:  in  respect 
to  the  principles  of  others,  they  were  truly  catholic.  Mr, 
Disney's  correspondence  with  some  persons  of  high  name 
for  literature  in  his  age  does  honour  to  both  parties.  His 
own  learning  was  acknowledged,  and  the  great  work  which 
he  had  designed  to  have  published,  under  the  title  of 
"  Corpus  Legum  de  Moribus  Reformandis,"  was  greatly 
approved  by  several  judicious  and  learned  men,  and  for- 
warded by  their  ready  answers  to  queries  proposed  to  them 
by  the  writer,  as  occasion  suggested  them,  and  not  unfre- 
qnently  by  their  voluntary  contributions.  His  own  library 
contained  a  very  extensive  and  valuable  collection  of  books 
in  all  languages  ;  but  he  spared  not  journies  to  the  public 
libraries  in  London,  and  both  of  our  universities,  for  the 


134  DISNEY. 

consultation   of    such    scarce  books    and    manuscripts    as 
were  nowhere  else  to  be  met  with.     His  manuscripts,  which 
are  numerous,  are  preserved  in   his  family,  and  his  exact- 
ness and  precision   in  their  arrangement,  and  the  fairin 
of  their  transcript,  are  peculiar  to  himself. 

He  published:  1.  "  Primitive  Sacrse,  the  reflections  of 
a  devout  solitude,  consisting  of  Meditations  and  Poems  ou 
divine  subjects,"  London,  1701  and  1703,  8vo.  2.  "Flora," 
in  admiration  of  the  Gardens  of  Rapin,  and  the  translation 
of  Mr.  Gardiner,  written  in  1705,  prefixed  to  Subdean 
Gardiner's  translation  of  "  Rapin  of  Gardens,"  the  third 
edition  of  which  was  published  1728,  8vo.  3.  "  An  Essay 
upon  the  Execution  of  the  Laws  against  Immorality  and 
Profaneness.  With  a  Preface  addressed  to  her  Majesty's 
justices  of  the  peace,"  London,  1708  and  1710,  8vo.  His 
portrait  is  prefixed  to  several  copies  on  large  paper.  4. 
"  A  Second  Essay  upon  the  Execution  of  the  Laws  against 
Immorality  and  Profaneness.  Wherein  the  case  of  giving 
informations  to  the  magistrate  is  considered,  and  objections 
against  it  answered.  By  John  Disney,  esq.  With  a  Pre- 
face addressed  to  grand  juries,  constables,  and  church- 
wardens," London,  1710,  8vo.  The  preface  to  this  se- 
cond essay  was  afterwards  printed  in  a  small  size  by  itself, 
in  order  to  distribute  it  among  those  whom  it  more  par- 
ticularly concerned.  5.  "  Remarks  upon  a  Sermon  preached 
by  Dr.  Henry  Sacheverell,  at  the  assizes  held  at  Derby, 
Aug.  15,  1709.  In  a  Letter  to  himself.  Containing  a 
just  and  modest  defence  of  the  Societies  for  Reformation 
of  Manners,  against  the  aspersions  cast  upon  them  in  that 
Sermon,"  London,  1711,  8vo.  6.  Proposals  for  the  pub- 
lication of  his  great  work,  entitled  "  Corpus  Legum  de 
Moribus  Reformandis,"  dated  Lincoln,  1713;  a  single 
sheet,  and  republished  in  the  "  View  of  ancient  laws." 
7.  "  The  Genealogy  of  the  most  serene  and  most  illustrious 
House  of  Brunswick  Lunenburgh,  the  present  royal  fa- 
mily of  Great  Britain  ;  drawn  up  from  the  best  historical 
and  genealogical  writers,"  1714.  Dedicated  to  his  ma- 
jesty, king  George  I.  and  engraved  by  .1.  Sturt,  on  two 
sheets  of  imperial  paper.  N.  B.  A  mistake  in  this  Genea- 
logical Table  is  corrected  in  the  "•  Acta  Regia,"  1716,  Svo, 
vol.  I.  p.  102.  Rymer  says,  that  "  Albert  Great  Duke  of 
Brunswick  married  Adelhard,  daughter  to  Henry  the 
magnanimous  duke  of  Brabant  ;  whereas,  Mr.  Disney 
makes  Adelhard  daughter  of  the  marquis  of  Montserrat, 


DISNEY.  135 

8.  "  A  Sermon,  preached  in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Bo- 
tolph's,  Aldgate,  London,  on  Sunday,  Nov.  22,  1719," 
London,  1720,  8vo.  9 — 14.  Six  other  occasional  Ser- 
mons. 15.  "  A  View  of  ancient  laws  against  Immorality 
and  Profaneness,  under  the  following  heads :  lewdness ; 
profane  swearing,  cursing,  and  blasphemy  ;  perjury;  pro- 
fanation of  days  devoted  to  religion  ;  contempt  or  neglect 
of  divine  service ;  drunkenness  ;  gaming,  idleness,  va- 
grancy, and  begging;  stage-plays  and  players;  and  duel- 
ling. Collected  from  the  Jewish,  Roman,  Greek,  Gothic, 
Lombard,  and  other  Laws,  down  to  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century."  Dedicated  to  lord  King,  lord  high 
chancellor,"  Cambridge,  1729,  fol.1 

DITHMAR,  DITMAR,  or  DIETHUMAR,  bishop  of 
Mersburgh,  in  Misnia,  was  the  son  of  Sigefroy,  count  of 
Saxony,  and  was  born  in  the  year  976.  In  his  eighteenth 
or  twentieth  year,  he  embraced  the  monastic  life,  in  the 
convent  of  St.  John  of  Magdeburgh  ;  and  after  he  had 
executed  the  office  of  prior  in  another  religious  house,  the 
emperor  Henry  II.  advanced  him  in  1018,  to  the  bishop- 
ric of  Mersburgh.  In  1027  he  began  his  Chronicle,  in 
seven  books,  which  includes  the  history  of  the  emperors 
Henry  I. ;  Otto  I.  II.  and  III.  ;  and  Henry  II.  which  is 
thought  to  be  very  faithful  and  accurate,  lleinar  Rei- 
neccius  published  an  edition  of  it  at  Francfort,  in  1584, 
fol.  with  a  life  of  the  author;  and  it  has  been  also  added 
to  the  collection  of  the  German  historians.  Other  editions, 
Francfort,  1600,  and  Helmstadt,  1664,  followed;  but  the 
best  is  that  of  Leibnitz,  among  his  writers  on  the  history 
of  the  house  of  Brunswick,  Hanover,  fol.  It  was  also 
translated  into  German,  and  published  in  1606,  4to. 
Dithmar,  after  holding  his  bishopric  a  little  more  than  ten 
years,  died  Oct.  1,  1028,  revered  for  his  piety. 2 

DITHMAR  (JUSTUS  CHRISTOPHER),  professor  of  the 
law  of  nature  and  nations,  and  of  history,  at  Francfort  on 
the  Oder,  and  a  member  of  the  royal  society  of  Berlin, 
was  born  March  13,  1677,  at  Rottenburgh,  in  Hesse. 
His  father  was  rector  of  that  place,  and  became  afterwards 
minister  and  dean.  His  son  was  at  first  educated  under 
his  care,  which  he  amply  repaid  by  a  proficiency  far  be- 
yond his  years.  In  his  seventeenth  year  he  went  to  Mar- 

1  Life  in  Biog.  P.rit.  by  his  grandson,  Dr.  Disney. 

2  Moreri.— -Dupin,  whose  dates  dirt'ur  from  the    above.— Fabric.  Bibl.   Lat. 
Hed. 


136  D  I  T  H  M  A  R. 

purg,  and  studied  under  Otto,  the  celebrated  orientalist, 
and  Tilemann,  professor  of  divinity,  with  whom  he  lodged, 
and  who  afterwards  procured  him  the  appointment  of  tutor 
to  the  two  young  barons  of  Morrien.  Dithmar  executed 
this  office  with  general  satisfaction,  and  when  he  went  af- 
terwards to  prosecute  his  studies  at  Leyden,  he  was  main- 
tained at  the  expence  of  the  landgrave  of  He^r  Cusstl. 
He  afterwards  travelled  over  some  parts  of  Germany  and 
Holland,  as"  tutor  to  the  son  of  M.  the  great  president 
Dancklemann.  The  learned  Perizonius,  with  whom  he 
became  acquainted  at  Leyden,  and  who  had  a  great  es- 
teem for  him,  procured  him  the  offer  of  a  prod  s^orsiiip  at 
Leyden,  with  a  liberal  salary ;  but  Dithmar  thought  him- 
self obliged  first  to  return  M.  Dancklemann's  sun  to  his 
father,  who  was  so  sensible  of  the  value  of  his  services,  as 
to  procure  him  a  settlement  at  Francfort  on  the  Oder. 
Here  he  was  appointed  professor  of  history,  then  of  the 
law  of  nature  and  nations,  and  lastly,  gave  lectures  on 
statistics  and  finance.  He  had  been  before  this  admitted 
a  member  of  the  royal  society  of  Berlin,  and  was  created 
a  counsellor  of  the  order  of  St.  John.  His  situation  at 
Francfort  was  in  all  respects  so  agreeable,  that  he  refused 
many  offers  to  remove,  and  in  1715  again  declined  a  very 
honourable  opportunity  of  settling  at  Leyden.  He  died 
at  Francfort  March  13,  1737,  after  a  short  illness;  and 
with  the  reputation  of  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his 
time. 

His  works  are:  I.  "  Maimonidis  constit.  de  Jurejurando," 
with  notes  and  additions,  Leyden,  4to.  2.  "  Gregorii 
VII.  pontif.  Ilomani  Vita,"  Francfort,  8vo.  3.  "  Historia 
belli  inter  imperium  et  sacerdotium,"  ibid.  8vo.  4. 
"  Teschenmacheri  Annalis  divine,  &c.  notis,  tabulis  ge- 
nealogicis  et  codice  diplomatico  illustrati,"  ibid.  fol.  5. 
"  Summa  Capita  Antiq.  Judaicarum  et  Romanarutn  in 
usum  praelectionum  privatarum,"  ibid.  4to.  6.  "  Chytraci 
Marchia  Brandenburgensis  ad  nostra  tempora  continuata," 
ibid.  Svo.  7.  "  Delineatio  historic  Brandenburgensis  in 
privatis  pnelectionibus  prolixius  illustranda,"  ibid.  Svo. 
8.  "  Delineatio  historise  praecipuorurn  juris,  aut  pneten- 
sium  statibus  Europe  competentium  in  collegio  private 
magis  illustranda,"  ibid.  9.  "  C.  Corn.  Taciti  Germania, 
cum  perpetuo  et  pragmatico  Commentario,"  ibid.  Svo,  a 
very  correct  and  valuable  edition,  which  has  been  twice 
reprinted  since  its  first  appearance,  in  1724.  10.  "  Dis- 


D  I  T  H  M  A  R.  137 

sertatio  deabdicatione  regnorum,  aliarumqtie  dignitatum  il- 
lustrium  turn  secularium  quamecclesiasticarum,"  ibid.  1724-, 
4to  ;  a  pamphlet.  11.  "  Cotnmentatio  de  honoratissimo 
ordine  militari  de  Balneo,"  ibid.  1729,  fol.  containing  a 
history  of  tbe  origin  of  tbe  order  of  the  Bath  ;  its  progress, 
restoration  (by  George  I.  about  four  years  before  this  pub- 
lication), die  rules  of  the  order,  and  a  list  of  the  mem- 
bers. 12.  An  edition  of  the  history  of  the  order  of  St.  John, 
by  Becman,  in  German,  4to.  13.  Introduction  to  the  know- 
ledge of  finance,  police,  £.c. ;  also  in  German,  8vo.  Besides 
these,  he  contributed  some  papers  to  the  literary  journals, 
and  superintended  before  his  death  a  collection  of  his  dis- 
seruaions  on  various  subjects  of  law  and  history,  which 
was  published  at  Leipsic  in  1737,  8vo. l 

DITTON  (HUMPHREY),  an  eminent  mathematician,  was 
born  at  Salisbury,  on  the  2S>th  of  May,  1675,  being  the  four- 
teenth of  that  name  in  a  direct  line.  His  father  was  a  gen- 
tleman possessed  of  a  small  estate  in  the  county  of  Wilts. 
His  mother  was  of  the  family  of  the  Luttrells  of  Dunster- 
castle,  nearTannton,  in  Somersetshire,  whose  fortune  made 
a  considerable  increase  to  the  family  income.  Mr.  Ditton's 
father  being  of  the  sect  of  nonconformists,  and  extremely 
tenacious  of  his  opinions,  entered  much  into  the  religious  con- 
troversifs  of  those  times,  and  in  supporting  such  contentions 
impaired  iiis  fortune,  almost  to  the  ruin  of  his  family.  Mr. 
Humphrey  Dit.ion  was  the  only  son ;  and  his  father,  observing 
in  him  an  extraordinary  good  capacity,  was  desirous  that 
he  should  .not  want  the  advantage  of  a  good  education. 
Accordingly,  he  placed  him  in  a  private  academy,  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Olive,  a  clergyman  of  the  established 
church,  who,  notwithstanding  his  religious  sentiments  were 
different  from  those  of  Mr.  Ditton's  family,  was  much  es- 
teemed by  them  for  his  candour  and  moderation  in  those 
troublesome  times.  When  Mr.  Ditton  had  finished  his  studies 
under  Dr.  Olive,  he  at  the  desire  of  his  father,  although 
contrary  to  his  own  inclination,  engaged  in  the  professioa 
of  divinity,  and  began  to  exercise  his  function  at  Tun- 
bridge,  "in  Kent,  where  he  continued  to  preach  some 
years  ;  during  which  time  he  married  Miss  Ball,  a  lady  at 
that  place. 

He  was  so  indefatigable  and  assiduous  in   the  exercise 
of  his  calling,  that  he  very  much  impaired  his  health;  so 

1  Moreri. — Chaufepie. — Bibl.    Gerraanique,  vol.  X.   and  XII. — Republic  of 
Letters,  vol.  IV. 


13S  D  1  T  T  O  N. 

that  several  of  his  friends  foreseeing  it  \vould  shorten  his 
life,  advised  him  to  relinquish  a  profession  which  the  weak- 
ness of  his  constitution  could  not  support.  These  circum- 
stances, together  with  the  death  of  his  father,  which  hap- 
pened about  the  same  time,  determined  him  to  quit  the 
profession  of  divinity  ;  and  at  the  persuasion  of  Dr.  Harris 
and  Mr.  Whiston,  hoth  eminent  mathematicians,  he  en- 
gaged in  the  study  of  mathematics,  to  which  he  had  always 
a  great  propensity.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  science  he 
was  much  encouraged  by  the  success  and  applause  he  re- 
ceived. He  was  highly  esteemed  by  sir  Isaac  Newton,  by 
whose  interest  and  recommendation  he  was  elected  master 
of  the  new  mathematical  school  in  Christ's  hospital,  in 
which  office  he  remained  during  his  life. 

Mr.  Ditton  published  many  mathematical  and  other 
tracts.  His  first  works  were  a  paper  on  the  Tangents  of 
Curves,  and  a  treatise  on  Spherical  Catoptrics,  both  which 
were  published  in  the  "  Philosophical  Transactions."  This 
last  was  written  in  the  Latin  language,  and  was  so  highly 
approved,  that  it  was  republished  in  a  foreign  periodical 
work,  called  the  "  Acta  Eruditortim,"  in  1707;  and  was 
afterwards  printed  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris."  In  1706  he  published  a  treatise,  en- 
titled, "  An  Institution  of  Fluxions,  containing  the  first 
principles,  operations,  and  applications  of  that  admirable 
method,  as  invented  by  sir  Isaac  Newton."  This  work, 
with  additions  and  alterations,  was  again  published  by  Mr. 
John  Clarke,  in  1726,  some  years  after  Mr.  Ditton's  death. 
The  same  year,  1706,  Mr.  Ditton  also  published  a  treatise 
on  the  laws  of  nature  and  motion.  Of  this  the  celebrated 
Wolfius  makes  mention-,  and  asserts,  that  it  illustrates  arid 
renders  easy  the  writings  of  Galileo,  Huygens,  and  the 
"  Principia"  of  sir  Isaac  Newton.  It  is  also  noticed  by  De  la 
Roche,  in  "  The  Memoiresde  Literature,"  vol.  VIII.  p.  46. 
In  1709  he  published  the  "  Synopsis  Algebraicum"  of  John 
Alexander  Bernatus  Helvetius;  with  many  additions  and  cor- 
rections. His  treatise  on  Perspective  was  published  in  1712. 
In  this  work  he  explained  the  principles  of  that  art  mathe- 
matically ;  and  besides  teaching  the  methods  then  gene- 
rally practised,  gave  the  first  hints  of  the  new  method 
afterward  enlarged  upon  and  improved  by  Dr.  Brook  Tay- 
lor ;  and  which  was  published  in  1715.  Several  publica- 
tions of  Mr.  Ditton's  appeared  in  1714,  one  of  which  was 
a  "  Discourse  upon  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  f* 


DITTON.  139 

the  truth  of  which  he  here  endeavoured  to  demonstrate. 
This  work  went  through  four  editions,  and  was  translated 
into  several  of  the  modem  languages.  Tindal,  Collins, 
and  some  other  authors,  opposed  it,  and  endeavoured  to 
confute  the  reasoning  ;  to  whom  Ditton  had  begun  an 
answer,  but  died  before  it  was  finished ;  and  his  friends, 
upon  revising  it,  found  it  too  incomplete  to  hazard  its 
publication.  Another  of  his  works  that  appeared  in  the 
same  year,  was,  "  The  new  law  of  Fluids  ;  or,  a  Discourse 
concerning  the  ascent  of  liquids,  in  exact  geometrical 
figures,  between  two  nearly  contiguous  surfaces."  To 
tins  was  annexed  a  tract,  to  demonstrate  the  impossibility 
of  thinking  or  perception  being  the  result  of  any  combina- 
tion of  the  parts  of  matter  and  motion  ;  a  subject  much 
agitated  in  those  days  by  the  free-thinkers  and  their  oppo- 
nents. There  was  also  adjoined  to  this  work  an  adver- 
tisement from  him  and  Mr.  Whiston,  concerning  a  method 
for  discovering  the  longitude  ;  which,  it  appears,  they 
had  published  about  half  a  year  before.  This  attempt,  it  is 
thought,  cost  Mr.  Ditton  his  life  ;  for,  although  it  was  ap- 
proved and  countenanced  by  sir  Isaac  Newton,  previously 
to  its  being  presented  to  the  Board  of  longitude,  and  the 
method  lias  been  since  successfully  put  in  practice,  in 
finding  the  longitude  between  Paris  and  Vienna,  yet  that 
board  then  determined  against  it.  Such  a  disappointment, 
together  with  the  public  ridicule  incurred,  is  supposed  to 
have  affected  his  health,  but  this  we  think  unlikely,  as  his 
death  was  occasioned  by  a  putrid  fever,  which  proved 
fatal  Oct.  13,  1715,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  much  regretted  by  the  philosophical  literati  of  that 
time,  who  expected  from  his  assiduity,  learning,  and  pe- 
netrating genius,  many  useful  and  ingenious  discoveries*. 

*  Doctor  Arbuthnot,  in  a  letter  to  charges,  and  dimensions.  Now  you 
dean  Swift,  dated  July  17,  1714,  says,  must  understand,  his  project  is  by 
'•  Whiston  has  at  last  published  his  light-houses,  and  explosions  of  bombs 
piojcct  of  the  longitude  ;  the  most  ri-  at  a  certain  hour."  Absurd,  however, 
diculou*  thing  that  ever  was  thought  as  this  might  appear  to  the  wits  of  the 
on.  Hut  a  pox  on  him,  he  has  spoilt  day,  Whiston's  plan  was  the  caus*  of 
one  of  my  papers  of  Scriblerus,  which  an  act  being  passed  in  the  British  par- 
was  a  proposal  tor  the  longitude,  not  liamf  nt,  allowing  '2000/.  towards  mak- 
very  unlike  his,  to  this  purpose;  that,  ing  experiments;  and  =»lso  offering  a 
since  there  was  no  pole  for  east  and  reward  to  the  person  who  should  dis- 
west,  all  the  pi  inces  of  Europe  should  cover  the  longitude  at  sea,  propor- 
join  and  built  two  prodigious  poles,  tioned  to  the  degree  of  accuracy  that 
upon  high  mountains,  with  a  vast  light-  might  be  attained  by  such  discovery; 
house,  to  serve  for  a  pole-star.  I  was  viz.  a  reward  of  10, 0001.  if  it  deter- 
thjiiking  of  a  calculation  of  the  time,  mines  the  longitude  to  one  degree  pf 


1*0  DITTO  N. 

In  an  account  of  Mr.  Ditton,  prefixed  to  the  German 
translation  of  his  Discourse  on  the  Resurrection,  it  is  said, 
that  he  had  published,  in  his  own  name  only,  another  me- 
thod for  finding  the  longitude;  but  which  Mr.  Whiston 
denied*.  However,  Raphael  Levi,  a  learned  Jew,  who 
bad  studied  under  Leibnitz,  informed  the  German  editor 
that  he  well  knew  that  Ditton  and  Leibnitz  hud  corre- 
sponded upon  the  subject ;  and  that  Ditton  had  sent  to 
Leibnitz  a  delineation  of  a  machine  he  had  invented 
that  purpose  ;  which  was  a  piece  of  mechanism  con 
with  many  wheels,  like  a  clock,  and  which  Leibnitz  highly 
approved  of  for  land  use,*but  doubted  whether  it  wouldans- 
wer  on  ship-board,  on  account  of  the  motion  of  the  ship. 

Mr.  Ditton  was  buried  in  the  cloisters  of  Christ's-hos- 
pital,  on  the  north  side  of  the  quadrangle,  and  near  the 
passage  at  its  east  end.  A  large  blue  grave-stone,  with  a 
Latin  inscription  cut  in  it,  was  laid  over  the  grave.  The 
stone  yet  remains;  but  the  inscription  is  entirely  effaced. 
From  a  private  diary  of  Mr.  Ditton's,  he  appears  to  have 
been  a  man  of  warm  piety  and  simplicity  of  heart.  His 
son,  the  rev.  John  Ditton,  was  many  years  lecturer  of  St. 
Mary's,  Islington,  where  he  died  March  16,  1776.1 

DLUGOSS  (JOHN  LONGINUS),  a  Polish  historian,  was 
born  in  Ml 5,  at  Brzeznich,  a  town  in  Poland,  of  which 
his  father  was  governor.  In  his  sixth  year,  his  father 
being  appointed  governor  of  Korczyn,  he  was  removed 
thither  with  the  family,  and  began  his  education,  which  was 
continued  in  the  different  places  of  which  his  father  was 
successively  appointed  governor,  until  he  was  sent  to 
Cracow.  Here  and  at  other  places  he  pursued  his  studies, 
with  very  little  encouragement  from  his  father,  but  found 
a  friend  in  Zbigneus,  bishop  of  Cracow,  who  was  a  patron 
of  learned  men.  This  prelate  first  placed  him  at  the  head 
of  his  chancery,  after  that  of  his  house,  and  at  last  made 
him  general  manager  of  his  affairs  ;  and  he  acquitted  him- 

a  great  circle,  or  60  geographical  and  20.000/.  if  it  determines  it  to  half 
miles;  lo,000/.  if  it  determines  the  that  distance ;  with  other  regulations 
same  to  two-thirds  of  that  distance ;  and  encouragements. 

*  So  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  174<>,  Whiston  informs  us  that  he 
which  does  not  give  us  the  date  of  this  wrote  a  life  of  his  friend,  to  be  pre- 
German  translation.  There  was  a  Ger-  fixed  to  a  German  cdrion  then  in  the 
jnan  translation  published  in  IT'20,  by  press,  and  in  which  he  would  riot  have 
Cornelius  Coorn,  which  might  have  a  asserted  what  is  here  contradicted, 
life  of  Ditton  prclixrd  to  it,  but  in 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Whiston's  Memoirs. — Gospel  Magazine,  by  Vallance  and 
Simmons,  for  1777,  where  are  many  extracts  tiom  his  Diary. 


D  L  U  G  O  S  S.  141 

self  so  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  bishop,  that  on  his 
death-bed   he  appointed   him  one  of  his  executors.     He 
had  also  ordained  him  priest  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and 
gave  him  some  church  preferment,  particularly  the  living 
of  St.  Martin  of  Klobuczk,  and  a  canonry  of  Cracow.     He 
\vas    afterwards  promoted   to  be  chanter,    and    treasurer 
of  the  church  of  Vissicza,  canon  of  Sendomir,  and  got 
some  other  preferments  less  considerable.     Tfoe  only  use 
he  made  of  the  wealth  arising  from  these  benefices,  was 
to  share  it  with  poorer  clergymen  of  talents  and  character; ,. 
or  to  bestow  it  on  the  poor,  on   the  repairs  of  churches, 
and  other  pious  purposes.     Eugene   IV.  having  appointed 
Zbignetis  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal,  and  several   impedi- 
ments being  thrown  in  the  way  of  this  preferment,  Dlugoss 
went  to  Rome  in  1449,  and  had  these  difficulties  removed. 
Pope   Nicholas  V.  employed  him  to  carry  the  cardinal's 
cap  to  the  bishop,  which  he  had  the  honour  to  put  on  his 
head  in  the  cathedral   of  Cracovr,  in  the  same  year.     In 
1450  he  took  a  journey  to  the  land  of  Palestine,  where  he 
contemplated  with  veneration  the  places  dignified  by  being 
the  site  of  Scripture  history.      On  his  return   to  Poland, 
king  Casimir  IV.  appointed  him  tutor  to  his  sons,  which 
office  he  filled  for  many  years  with  great  reputation.     On 
the  death  of  his  early  patron,  cardinal   Zbigneus,  in  April 
1455,  Dlugoss  was  accused  by  the  brother  of  the  deceased 
for  having  abused   his  confidence,  a  charge  which  he  had 
little  difficulty  in  repelling,  but  was  less  successful  with 
the  king,  whose  displeasure  he  incurred  by  espousing  the 
cause  of  an  ecclesiastic   whom  the  pope  had  nominated 
bishop  of  Cracow,  while  the  king  had  nominated  another; 
and  for  this  slight  reason  Dlugoss  was  exiled  for  the  space 
of  three  years  ;  at  the  end  of  which,  however,  he  was  re- 
called, and  his  majesty  restored  him  to  his  favour,  and  not 
only  consulted  him  on  many  public  affairs  of  importance, 
but  employed  him  to  negociate  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
on  matters  respecting  the  interests  of  Poland.     At  length 
he  was  appointed  archbishop  of  Leopold,  but  died  before 
his  consecration,   May  29,  1480.     His  principal  historical 
work  is  entitled   "  Historia  Polronica,"  the  first  volume  of 
which  was  printed  in  1615,  fol.     This  edition,   which  is  of 
rai  .-  jccurrence,  is  one  of  the  few  scarce  books  which  pro- 
c<      od   from  the   private  press  of  Herburt  of  DobTornil, 
It  contains,  however,  only  the  first  six  books,  bringing  the 
history  clown  to  1240  ;  the  rest  remained  i-u  manuscript 


142  D  L  U  G  O  S  S. 

until  1711,  when  they  were  printed  at  Francfort,  along 
with  the  preceding,  under  the  title  "  J.  Dlugossi  historiie 
Polonicoe  Hbri  duodecim,  &c."  This  hrings  the  history 
down  to  1444,  but  a  continuation  was  published  by  J.  G. 
Krause,  which  he  called  the  thirteenth  book,  at  Leipsic, 
1712,  folio,  and  which  extends  to  1480,  the  year  of  the 
author's  death.  He  is  esteemed  a  very  correct  historian, 
although  not  free  from  the  barbarism  of  his  age.  His  other 
works  are,  1.  "  Vita  St.  Stanislai  episcopi  et  martyns," 
Cracow,  1611  and  1666.  2.  "  Plocensium  episcoporuin 
vita1,"  which  is  inserted  in  "  Stanislai  Lubienski  opera  post- 
hum^,"  Antwerp,  1643,  fol.  3."Vitae  episcoporum  Postna- 
.jiiensium,"  1G'24,  4to  ;  and  some  other  lives  of  bishops.1 

DOBSON  (WILLIAM),  an  English  painter,  was  born  in 
London,  in  1610.  His  father  was  master  of  the  Alienation 
office  ;  but  "  spending  his  estate  upon  women,  necessity 
forced  his  son  to  be  the  most  excellent  painter  that  England 
hath  yet  bred."  He  was  put  out  early  an  apprentice  to 
one  Mr.  Peake,  a  stationer  and  trader  in  pictures,  with 
whom  he  served  his  time.  Nature  inclined  him  very 
powerfully  to  the  practice  of  painting  after  the  life,  in 
which  he  had  some  instructions  from  Francis  Cieyne  ;  and, 
by  his  master's  procurement,  he  had  the  advantage  of 
copying  many  excellent  pictures,  especially  some  of  Ti- 
tian and  Van  Dyck.  How  much  he  was  beholden  to  the 
latter,  may  easily  be  seen  in  all  his  works ;  no  painter 
having  ever  so  happily  imitated  that  excellent  master,  who 
was  so  much  pleased  with  his  performances,  that  he  pre- 
sented him  to  Charles  I.  This  monarch  took  him  into 
his  immediate  protection,  kept  him  in  Oxford  all  the 
while  his  majesty  continued  in  that  city,  sat  several 
times  to  him  for  his  picture,  and  obliged  the  prince  of 
Wales,  prince  Rupert,  and  most  of  the  lords  of  his  court, 
to  do  the  like.  Dobson  \\as  a  fair,  middle-sized  man, 
of  a  ready  wit  and  pleasing  conversation  ;  but  some- 
what loose  and  irregular  in  his  way  of  living  ;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  opportunities  he  had  of  making  his  for- 
tune, died  poor  at  his  house  in  St.  Martin's-lane,  in  1647. 
Although  it  was  his  misfortune  to  want  suitable  helps  in 
beginning  to  apply  himself  to  painting,  and  he  was  much 
disturbed  by  tiie  commotions  of  the  unhappy  times  tie  nou- 
rished in,  yet  he  shone  out  through  all  disadvantages  ; 

i  Niceron,  vo'.  XXXVIII.— Moreri.— Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.  Lat.— Clement  Bitd. 
Ourieuse, — Saxii  Onuma&ticon. 


D  O  B  S  O  N.  143 

and  it  is  universally  agreed,  that,  had  his  education  and 
encouragement  been  answerable  to  his  genius,  England 
might  justly  have  been  as  proud  of  her  Dobson,  as  Ve- 
nice of  her  Titian,  or  Flanders  of  her  Van  Dyck.  He 
was  both  a  history  and  portrait  painter  ;  and  there  are  in 
the  collections  of  the  dukes  of  Marlborough,  Devonshire, 
Northumberland,  and  the  earl  of  Pembroke,  several  of  his 
pictures  of  both  kinds.1 

DOD  (JOHN),  usually  styled  the  DECALOGIST,  from  his 
Commentary  on  the  commandments,  and  called  b}'  Fuller, 
the  "  last  of  the  Puritans,"  was  a  native  of  Shotledge,  in. 
Cheshire;  in  which  county  there  were  several  ancient  fa- 
milies of  the  Dods;  but  to  which  of  them  he  belonged,  we 
have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  He  was  born,  the  youngest 
of  seventeen  children,  in  1547,  and  sent  to  school  at  West- 
Chester,  but  Mr.  Cole  says  he  was  educated  at  Winchester, 
a  name  which  he  probably  transcribed  hastily  for  the  other. 
In  1561,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  a;j;e,  he  was  en- 
tered of  Jesus  college,  Cambridge,  of  which  he  was  chosen 
fellow  in  1585,  according  to  a  MS  note  of  Mr.  Baker; 
and  Mr.  Cole  adds,  that  he  was  junior  proctor  in  1614; 
both  which  dates  must  belong  to  some  other  person,  as  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  remained  in  all  more  than  six- 
teen years  at  college.  At  what  time  he  took  his  master's 
degree  is  uncertain,  but  a  few  years  after,  being  appointed 
to  oppose  in  the  philosophy  act  at  the  commencement,  he 
exhibited  such  a  display  of  talents,  as  highly  gratified  his 
hearers,  and  in  consequence,  he  had  liberal  offers  to  re- 
move to  Oxford.  These  he  declined,  but  was  incorpo- 
rated M.  A.  in  that  university  in  1585.  Associating  much 
with  Drs.  Fulke,  Chaclerton,  and  Whitaker,  he  imbibed 
the  principles  and  strictness  for  which  they  were  famous, 
and  conceived  an  early  dislike  to  some  of  the  ceremonies 
or  discipline  of  the  church,  but  to  what  we  are  no.t  told. 
After  taking  orders,  he  first  preached  a  weekly  lecture  at 
Ely,  until  invited  by  sir  Anthony  Cope  to  be  minister  of 
Hanwell,  in  Oxfordshire,  in  1577,  where  he  became  a 
constant  and  diligent  preacher,  and  highly  popular.  Nor 
was  his  hospitality  Jess  conspicuous,  as  he  kept  an  open 
table  on  Sundays  and  Wednesdays — lecture  days,  gene- 
rally entertaining  on  these  occasions  from  eight  to  twelve 
persons  at  dinner.  At  Hanwell  he  remained  twenty  years, 

1  Biof.  Brit. — Walpole's  Antedates. — Pilkington. — Letter*  by  eminent  Per- 
sons,  &c.  18 13,  3  voU.  3vo. 


144  D  O  D. 

in  the  course  cf  which  he  married,  and  had  a  large  family; 
but,  owing  to  his  nonconformity  in  some  points,  he  was 
suspended  by  Dr.  Bridges,  bishop  of  Oxford.  After  this, 
he  preached  for  some  time  at  Fenny-Compton,  in  War- 
wickshire, and  from  thence  was  called  to  Cannons  Ashby, 
in  Northamptonshire,  where  he  was  patronized-  by  sir  Eras- 
mus Dryden  ;  but  here  again  he  was  silenced,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  complaint  made  by  bishop  Neale  to  king 
Jarnes,  who  commanded  archbishop  Abbot  to  pronounce 
that  sentence.  During  this  suspension  of  his  public  ser- 
vices, he  appears  to  have  written  his  Commentary  on  the 
Decalogue  and  Proverbs,  which  he  published  in  conjunc- 
tion with  one  Robert  Cleaver,  probably  another  silenced 
puritan,  of  whom  we  can  find  no  account.  At  length,  by 
the  interest  of  the  family  of  Knightley,  of  Northampton- 
shire, after  the  death  of  king  James,  he  was  presented  in 
1624,  to  the  living  of  Fawesley,  in  that  county.  Here  he 
recommended  himself  as  before,  not  more  by  his  earnest 
and  affectionate  services  in  the  pulpit,  than  by  his  charity 
und  hospitality,  and  particularly  by  his  frequent  visits  and 
advice  ;  which  last  he  delivered  in  a  manner  peculiarly 
striking.  A  great  many  of  his  sayings  became  almost  pro- 
verbial, and  remained  so  for  above  a  century,  being,  as 
may  yet  be  remembered,  frequently  printed  in  a  small 
tract,  or  on  a  broad  sheet,  and  suspended  in  every  cottage. 
On  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion  he  suffered  con- 
siderably, his  house  being  plundered,  as  the  house  of  a 
puritan,  although  he  was  a  decided  enemy  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  republicans.  When  they  were  about  to 
abolish  the  order  of  bishops,  &c.  Dr.  Brownrig  sent  to  Mr. 
Dod,  for  his  opinion,  who  answered,  that  "he  had  been 
scandalized  with  the  proud  and  tyrannical  practises  of  the 
Marian  bishops;  but  now,  after  more  than  sixty  years'  ex- 
perience of  many  protestant  bishops,  tbt't  had  been  worthy 
preachers,  learned  and  orthodox  writers,  great  champions 
for  the  protestant  cause,  he  wished  all  his  friends  not  to 
fee  any  impediment  to  them,  and  exhorted  all  men  not  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  king;  which  was  his  doctrine,  he 
said,  upon  the  fifth  commandment,  and  he  would  never 
depart  from  it."  He  died  in  August,  1645,  at  the  very 
advanced  age  of  ninety-seven,  and  was  buried  on  the  I9th 
of  that  month,  at  Favvesl-ey,  in  Northamptonshire.  Fuller 
says,  "  with  him  the  Old  Puritan  seemed  to  expire,  and 
iu  his  grave  to  be  interred.  Humble,  meek,  patient, 


D  O  D.  145 

charitable  as  in  his  censures  of,  so  in  his  alms  to  others. 
Would  I  could  truly  say  but  half  so  much  of  the  next  ge- 
neration !"  "  He  was,"  says  the  same  author,  "  a  passive 
nonconformist,  not  loving  any  one  the  worse  for  difference 
in  judgment  about  ceremonies,  but  all  the  better  for  their 
unity  of  affections  in  grace  and  goodness.  He  used  to 
retrench  some  hot  spirits  when  inveighing  against  bishops, 
telling  them  how  God  under  that  government  had  given  a 
marvellous  increase  to  the  gospel,  and  that  godly  men 
might  comfortably  comport  therewith,  under  which  learning 
and  religion  had  so  manifest  an  improvement."  He  was 
an  excellent  scholar,  particularly  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
which  he  taught  to  the  celebrated  John  Gregory,  of  Christ- 
church,  Oxford.  The  no  less  celebrated  Dr.  Wilkins  was 
his  grandson,  and  born  in  his  house  at  Fawesley,  in  1614, 
a  date  which  seems  to  interfere  with  that  given  above  as 
the  date  of  Mr.  Dod's  presentation  to  Fawesley,  which  we 
have  taken  from  the  register  in  Bridges's  Northampton- 
shire, but  he  might  probably  have  resided  there  previous 
to  the  living  becoming  vacant.  Of  his  works  we  know 
only  that  which  conferred  on  him  the  name  of  the  Deca- 
logist,  "  A  plain  and  familiar  Exposition  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments," London,  1606,  4to ;  and  "  A  plain  and 
familiar  Exposition"  of  certain  chapters  of  the  Book  of 
Proverbs,  1606,  4to,  published  at  different  times;  and 
the  prefaces  signed  by  Dod  and  Cleaver.  There  are 
some  original  letters  by  Dod  in  the  British  Museum, 
(Ayscough,  No.  4275),  addressed  to  lady  Vere.  They  con- 
sist chiefly  of  pious  exhortations  respecting  the  confused 
state  of  public  affairs.  In  one  of  them,  dated  Dec.  20, 
1642,  he  says,  he  is  "not  far  off  ninety-five  years  old,'* 
which  has  enabled  us  to  ascertain  his  age,  hitherto  incor- 
rectly given  by  his  biographers.1 

DOD  ART  (DENIS),  doctor  regent  of  the  faculty  of 
medicine  at  Paris,  where  he  was  born  in  1634,  was  edu- 
cated not  only  in  the  learned  languages,  but  in  painting, 
music,  and  other  elegant  accomplishments,  and  exhibited 
early  such  traits  of  genius  and  learning,  that  Guy  Patin, 
not  in  general  very  lavish  of  praise,  considered  him  as 
one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time.  In  a  letter  to  a 

'  Clark's  Lives  of  Eminent  Divines. — Lloyd's  Memoirs,  fol. — Fuller's  Worthies. 
—Fuller's  Church  History,  book  XI.  p.  219. — Wood's  Fasti.— Plume's  Life  of 
Bishop  Racket,  p.  xxv. — Cole's  MS  Athense  in  Urit.  Mu«. — Hawkins's  Life  of 
Johnson,  p.  541. — Granger. 

VOL.  XII.  L 


146  DODART. 

friend,  he  called  him  "  Monstrnm  sine  Vitio,"  a  charac- 
ter which  Adrian  Turnebus  applied  to  Scaliger;  and  in 
another  letter,  Patin  redoubles  his  praise  of  young  Dodart, 
Having  in  1660  taken  his  degree  of  doctor,  he  soon  at- 
tained to  distinction  in  his  profession,  being  the  following, 
year  called  to  attend  the  princess  dowager  of  Conti,  and 
the  princes,  her  children  ;  and  some  time  after  he  was  ap- 
pointed physician  to  the  king,  Louis  XIV.  In  1673  he 
was  made  a  member  of  the  academy  of  sciences,  and  in 
compliance  with  their  wishes,  he  wrote  a  preface  to  the 
"  Memoires  pour  servir  a  1'Histoire  de  Flantes,"  published 
by  the  academy,  in  1676,  which  Chamberlayne  in  his 
Lives  of  the  Academicians  strangely  mistakes  for  "  Me- 
moirs to  serve  for  the  History  of  France  !"  and  gravely 
argues  upon  his  fitness  for  the  work.  Dodart  employed 
some  labour  in  making  chemical  analyses  of  plants,  with 
the  view  of  acquiring  a  more  intimate  knovvlege  of  their 
medical  virtues,  agreeably  to  the  opinions  that  then  pre- 
vailed, but  which  further  experience  has  shewn  not  to  be 
well  founded.  He  pursued  his  statical  experiments,  to 
find  the  proportion  that  perspiration  bears  to  the  other  ex- 
cretions, for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  results  first  ap- 
peared in  1699,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  academy,  and 
were  afterwards  published  separately,  under  the  title  of 
"  Medicina  Statica  Gallica."  In  the  course  of  those  ex- 
periments, he  found  that  during  the  Lent  in  one  year,  he 
had  lost  in  weight  eight  pounds  five  ounces  :  returning  to 
his  ordinary  way  of  living,  he  recovered  what  he  had  lost 
in  a  very  short  time.  He  once  purposed  writing  a  history 
of  music,  but  only  finished  a  memoir  on  the  voice,  which 
is  published  among  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy.  He  was 
of  a  grave  disposition,  Fontenelle  says,  pious  and  abste- 
mius  ;  and  his  death,  which,  happened  Nov.  5th,  1707, 
was  much  regretted. 

His  son,  CLAUDE- JOHN- BAPTISTE  DODART,  following  in 
the  steps  of  his  father,  was  made  M.  D.  in  1688,  and  in 
1718  was  appointed  first  physician  to  Louis  XV.  The 
only  work  in  which  he  was  concerned,  was  an  edition  of 
"  Pomet's  History  of  Drugs,"  with  some  useful  notes. 
He  died  at  Paris,  in  1730.1 

DODD  (CHARLES),  a  Roman  catholic  historian,  deserves 
a  fuller  memorial  than  can  now  be  recovered.  All  we 

1  Moreri.— Rees's  Cycloptedia. 


D  O  D  D.  147 

know  of  him  is  derived  from  Mr.  Berrington,  who  informs 
us  that  he  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Roman  church,   resided 
at  Harvington  in  Worcestershire,  and  died  there  about  the 
year  1745.     His  virtues  and  talents  were  eminent,   and  his 
labours  in  the  range  of  literature  were  incessant  and  mani- 
fold.    The  work  that  has  principally  given  celebrity  to  his 
name  is  a  "  Church  History  of  England,"   1737 — 1742,   3 
vols.  folio,  with  the  place  of  Brussels,  but  evidently  from 
the  type,  &c.  printed  in  England.     Having  had  repeated 
occasion    to  consult    it,     we  are   ready    to    acknowledge 
our  obligations  for  information  derived  from  this  history, 
which    cost  the  author   the    labour  of  thirty  years  ;    and 
we  agree  with  Mr.  Berrington,   that  it  contains  much  cu- 
rious matter,  collected  with  great  assiduity,  and  many  ori- 
ginal records.     The  author's  style,  when  the  subject  ad- 
mits expression,  is  pure  and  unincumbered,  his  narration 
easy,   and  his  reflections  just  and  liberal,  at  least  as  much 
so  as  can  be  expected  from  an  undisguised  zeal  for  a  cer- 
tain train  of  opinions,  and  certain  views  of  history.      His 
materials  are  perhaps  not  well  arranged,  and  he  was  him- 
self,  we  are  told,  so  dissatisfied,  as,  with  his  own  hand,  to 
copy  this  voluminous  work  into  two  or  three  different  forms. 
This  history  remained  for  many  years  almost  unknown, 
and  we  can  remember  when  it  was  sold  almost  at  the  price 
of  waste-paper.     Its  worth  is  now  better  ascertained,  and 
the  last  copy  offered  for  sale,  belonging  to  the  marquis 
Tenvnshend's  library,  was  sold  for  ten  guineas.  1 

DODD  (DR.  WILLIAM),  an  ingenious  divine,  of  unfor- 
tunate memory,  was  born  in  1729,  at  Bourne  in  Lincoln- 
shire ;  of  which  place  his  father,  of  the  same  names,  was 
many  years  vicar.  After  being  educated  at  a  private 
school  in  classical  learning,  he  was  admitted  a  sizar  of 
Clare-hall  in  Cambridge  in  1745,  where  he  gave  early 
proofs  of  parts  and  scholarship,  and  so  early  as  in  1747 
began  to  publish  little  pieces  of  poetry.  In  this  year  he 
published  (without  his  name)  "A  Pastoral  on  the  Distem- 
per among  the  horned  cattle;"  in  174y,  "The  African 
prince,  now  in  England,  to  Zara  at  his  father's  court,"  and 
"  Zara's  answer;"  in  1750,  "  A  day  in  Vacation  at  Col- 
lege," a  mock-heroic  poem  in  blank  verse  ;  abridgments  of 
Grotius  "  De  jure  belli  et  pacis,"  and  of  Clarke  on  the 

1  Herrington's  Preface  to  the  Memoirs  of  Panzaci.  where  Dodd's  share  in 
that  work  is  acknowledged, 

1  2 


148  D  O  D  D. 

being  and  attributes  of  God,  with  sir  Jeffrey  Gilbert's  Ab- 
stract of  Locke  on  the  human  understanding,  all  inscribed 
to  Dr.  Keene,  then  vice-chancellor  of  the  university,  and 
afterwards  bishop  of  Ely,  under  the  title  "  Synopsis  com- 
pendiaria  Librorum   H.  Gfotii  de  jure   belli  et  pacis,   S. 
Clarkii  de  Dei  existentia  et  attributes,  et  J.  Lockii  de  in- 
tellectu    humano."      He   published    also,    while    at    Cam- 
bridge, "  A  new  Book  of  the  Dunciad,  occasioned  by  Mr. 
Warburton's  edition  of  the  Dunciad  complete,"  in  which 
"Warburton  is  made  the  hero.     About  the  same  time  he 
published  proposals  for  a  translation,  by  subscription,  of  the 
Hymns  of  Callimaehus,  the   fragments  of  Orpheus,   &c. 
from    the  Greek ;    and   wrote  a   tragedy,    with   choruses, 
called  "  The  Syracusan."     He  continued  to  make  frequent 
publications  in  this  light  way,  in  which  there  were  always 
marks  of  sprightliness  and  ingenuity  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
imbibed  that  taste  for  expence  and  dissipation  which  finally 
proved  his  ruin.     In   January  1750  he  took  the  degree  of 
13.  A.  with  reputation  ;  and  that  of  master  in  1757.     Before 
he  was  in  orders  he  had  begun  and  finished  his  selection  of 
4<  The  Beauties  of  Shakspeare,"   which  he  published  soon 
after  in  2  vols.  12mo,  and,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  pre- 
face, tells  us,  as  if  resigning  all  pursuits  of  the  profane 
kind,   that  "  better  and  more  important  things  henceforth 
demanded  his  attention  :''   nevertheless,  in  1755,  he  pub- 
lished his  translation  of  the  hymns  of  Callimachus,  in  Eng- 
lish verse  ;  in  the  preface  to  which  he  was  assisted  by  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Home,  bishop  of  Norwich.     Happy  would 
it  have  been,  had  he  remained  longer  in  the  friendship  of 
that  excellent  man,  whom,  however,  he  soon  disgusted  by 
his  vanity  and  unbecoming  conduct.     His  "  Callimachus" 
was  dedicated   to  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  by  tile  recom- 
mendation of  Dr.  Keene,  bishop  of  Chester ;   who,  having 
conceived  a  good  opinion  of  Dodd  at  the  university,  was 
desirous  of  bringing  him  forward  into  the  world. 

In  1753  he  received  orders ;  and,  being  now  settled  in 
London,  soon  became  a  very  popular  and  celebrated 
preacher.  He  obtained  several  lectureships ;  that  of 
West- Ham  and  Bow,  that  of  St.  James  Garlickhithe,  and 
that  of  St. Olave  Hart-street;  and  was  appointed  to  preacli 
a  course  of  lady  Moyer's  lectures  :  and  he  advanced  his 
theological  character  greatly,  by  an  almost  uninterrupted 
publication  of  sermons  and  tracts  of  piety.  And  farther  to 
keep  up  the  profession  of  sanctity,  and  increase  bis  popu- 


D  O  D  D.  149 

larky,  he  was  very  zealous  in  promoting  and  assisting  at 
charitable  institutions,  and  distinguished  himself  much  in. 
regard  to  the  Magdalen  hospital,  which  was  opened  in 
August  1758:  he  became  preacher  at  the  chapel  of  this 
charity,  for  which  he  was  allowed  yearly  I OO/.  But,  not- 
withstanding his  apparent  attention  to  spiritual  concerns, 
he  was  much  more  in  earnest,  and  indeed  in  earnest  only 
in  cultivating  his  temporal  interests  ;  but  all  his  expedients 
were  not  successful,  and  his  subservient  flattery  was  some- 
times seen  through.  In  1759  he  published  in  2  vols.  12mo, 
bishop  Hall's  Meditations,  and  dedicated  them  to  Miss 
Talbot,  who  lived  in  the  family  of  archbishop  Seeker;  and, 
on  the  honour  the  marquis  of  Granby  acquired  in  Ger- 
many, addressed  an  ode  to  the  marchioness.  His  dedica- 
tion to  Miss  Talbot  was  too  extravagant  a  piece  of  flattery 
not  to  miss  its  aim,  and  gave  such  offence  to  the  archbishop, 
that,  after  a  warm  epistolary  expostulation,  his  grace  in- 
sisted on  the  sheet  being  cancelled  in  all  the  remaining 
copies. 

Dr.  Squire,  who  in  1760  was  made  bishop  of  St.  David's, 
had  published  the  year  before  a  work  entitled  "  Indiffer- 
ence for  Religion  inexcusable :"  on  the  appearance  of 
which,  Dodd  wrote  a  sonnet,  and  addressed  it  to  the 
author,  who  was  so  well  pleased  with  this  mark  of  his  at- 
tention, that  in  1761  he  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  in 
1763  procured  for  him  a  prebend  of  Brecon.  He  also 
egregiously  flattered  this  prelate  in  '*  The  Public  Ledger," 
in  which  he  then  wrote :  and  about  the  same  time  he  is 
supposed  to  have  defended  the  measures  of  administra- 
tion, in  some  political  pieces.  From  1760  to  1767  he  su- 
perintended and  contributed  largely  to  "  The  Christian's 
Magazine,"  for  which  he  received  from  the  proprietors 
100/.  yearly.  By  all  these  employments  and  contrivances 
he  earned  money  enough  to  support  a  man  of  moderate 
expences  ;  but  a  very  considerable  fortune  would  have 
been  too  small  for  the  luxurious  style  of  living  in  which  he 
delighted  to  indulge,  and  which  in  him  may  have  been 
reckoned  original,  as  he  never  lived  in  any  situation  where 
he  could  have  acquired  the  habit. 

Still,  however,  he  preserved  theological  appearances ; 
and  he  now  meditated  a  design  of  publishing  a  large  com- 
mentary on  the  Bible.  In  order  to  give  the  greater  e"clat 
to  this  undertaking,  and  draw  the  public  attention  upon  it, 
it  was,  announced,  that  lord  Masham  presented  hiiu  with 


150  D  O  D  D. 

MSS.  of  Mr.  Locke,  found  in  his  lordship's  library  at 
Gates*;  and  that  he  had  helps  also  from  MSS.  of  lord 
Clarendon,  Dr.  Watcrland,  Gilbert  West,  and  other  cele- 
brated men.  He  began  to  publish  this  commentary, 
1765,  in  weekly  and  monthly  numbers;  and  continued  to 
publish  it  regularly  till  it  was  completed  in  3  vols.  folio. 
It  was  dedicated  to  his  patron  bishop  Squire,  who  died  in 
May  the  year  following,  1766  ;  and  was  lamented  (we  be- 
lieve very  sincerely)  by  our  commentator,  in  a  funeral  ser- 
mon dedicated  to  his  widow.  This  year  he  took  the  de- 
gree of  LL.  D.  at  Cambridge,  having  been  made  a  chap- 
lain to  the  king  some  time  before.  His  next  publication 
•was  a  volume  of  his  poems,  in  8vo.  In  1769  he  published 
a  translation  from  the  French,  of  "  Sermons  preached  be- 
fore Lewis  XV.  during  his  minority,  by  Massillon,  bishop 
of  Clermont."  They  were  called  "  Sermons  on  the  duties 
of  the  great,"  and  inscribed  to  the  prince  of  Wales.  In 
1771  he  published  "Sermons  to  Young  Men,"  3  vols. 
12mo.  These  he  dedicated  to  his  pupils  Charles  Ernst 
and  Philip  Stanhope,  now  earl  of  Chesterfield,  he  having 
become  tutor  to  the  latter,  by  the  recommendation  of 
bishop  Squire. 

In  1772  he  was  presented  to  the  living  of  HocklifTe  in 
Bedf^rd&uire:  but  such  a  preferment  was  of  little  avail  in 
supplying  his  wants.  The  habits  of  expence  had  gained 
an  irresistible  ascendancy  over  him  :  he  was  vain  ;  he  was 
pompous  ;  which  persons  emerging  from  low  situations  in 
life  are  apt  to  be ;  and  thus  became  involved  and  sinking 
under  debts.  To  relieve  himself,  he  was  tempted  to  a 
step  which  ruined  him  for  ever  with  those  who  had  not  be- 
fore seen  through  his  character;  and  this  was,  to  procure 
by  indirect  means  the  rectory  of  St.  George's,  Hanover- 
square.  On  the  preferment  of  Dr.  Moss  to  the  see  of  Bath 
and  Wells,  in  1774,  that  rectory  fell  to  the  disposal  of  the 
crown  ;  on  which,  Dodd  caused  an  anonymous  letter  to  be 
sent  to  lady  Apsley,  offering  the  sum  of  3000/.  if  by  her 
means  he  could  be  presented  to  the  living  :  the  letter  was 
immediately  communicated  to  the  chancellor;  and,  after 
being  traced  to  the  sender,  laid  before  the  king.  His 
name  was  ordered  to  be  struck  out  of  the  list  of  chaplains  ; 
the  press  abounded  with  satire  and  invective ;  he  was 
abused  and  ridiculed  in  the  papers  of  the  day;  and,  to 

*  See  the  life  of  Chillingwortb,  where  this  matter  is  more  fully  explained. 


D  O  D  D.  151 

crown  the  whole,  the  transaction  became  a  subject  of  en- 
tertainment, in  one  of  Foote's  performances  at  the  Hay- 
market.  All  the  answer  he  made  was  a  short  letter  in  the 
newspapers,  requesting  the  public  to  suspend  their  opi- 
nions, and  promising  an  elucidation  of  the  affair,  which 
never  appeared. 

Stung  with  shame,  if  not  remorse,  he  decamped  for  a 
season  ;  and  went  to  his  pupil  then  at  Geneva,  who  added 
to  Hocklitfe  the  living  of  Winge  in  Buckinghamshire:  but 
his  extravagance  continued  undiminished,  and  drove  him 
to  schemes  which  covered  him  with  infamy.  He  now  be- 
came the  editor  of  a  newspaper,  and  is  said  to  have  at- 
tempted a  disengagement  from  his  debts  by  a  commission 
of  bankruptcy,  in  which,  however,  he  failed.  From  this 
period  every  step  led  to  complete  his  ruin.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1776  he  went  to  France  ;  and,  as  if  he  had  a  mind 
to  wanton  in  folly,  paraded  in  a  phaeton  at  the  races  on 
the  plains  of  Sablons,  tricked  out  in  all  the  foppery  of 
French  attire.  He  returned  in  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  proceeded  to  exercise  his  function  with  the  same  for- 
mality and  affected  earnestness  as  formerly}  particularly  at 
the  Magdalen  chapel,  where  his  last  sermon  was  preached, 
Feb.  2,  1777*.  Two  days  after  this,  he  signed  a  bond, 
which  he  had  forged  as  from  his  pupil  lord  Chesterfield, 
for  the  sum  of  4-00/.  and,  upon  the  credit  of  it,  obtained  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  :  but  detection  instantly  fol- 
lowing, he  was  committed  to  prison,  tried  and  convicted  at 
the  Old  Bailey,  Feb.  24,  and  executed  at  Tyburn,  June 
27,  where  he  exhibited  every  appearance  of  penitence. 
The  unusual  distance  between  the  pronouncing  and  exe- 
cuting of  his  sentence  was  owing  to  a  doubt  for  some  time, 
respecting  the  admissibility  of  an  evidence,  whose  testi- 
mony had  been  made  use  of  to  convict  him. 

Before  concluding  this  part  of  his  history,  we  shall  enu- 
merate such  of  his  publications  as  remain  unnoticed.  These 
were,  "  An  Elegy  on  the  death  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;" 
"  The  Sisters,  or  the  History  of  Lucy  and  Caroline  Sanson," 
2  vols.  12mo,  a  work  very  unfriendly  to  morals;  several 
occasional  Sermons;  three  on  "The  Wisdom  and  Good- 
ness of  God  in  the  Vegetable  Creation,"  preached  before 
the  Apothecaries'  Company  ;  "  Thoughts  on  the  glorious 

*   It  is  said  that  his  text  was  taken      actions,  and  every  one  could  see  theit 
from   Deut.   ch.  xxviii.  verses  C5  anil      tendency,  CKCept  himself, 
£6.     There   was  a  fatality  in  all  his 


152  D  O  D  D. 

Epiphany  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  a  poem,  1758; 
"  Sermons  on  the  Parables  and  Miracles;"  "  Account  of 
the  Rise,  Progress,  &c.  of  the  Magdalen  Charity  ;"  "  A 
Familiar  Explanation  of  the  Poetical  Works  of  Milton," 
1762  ;  "  Reflections  on  Death,"  1763;  "  Comfort  for  the 
Afflicted  under  every  affliction,  with  suitable  devotions,'* 
1764,  12mo;  "  The  Visitor,"  a  collection  of  essays  ori- 
ginally printed  in  the  Public  Ledger,  1766,  2  vols.  12mo  ; 
an  edition  of  what  is  called  "  Locke's  Common- place  book 
to  the  Bible,"  4to ;  and  in  1776  he  issued  proposals  for  a 
History  of  Free- Masonry,  to  be  comprized  in  2  vols.  4to  ; 
and  had  projected  an  edition  of  Shakspeare,  from  which 
he  had  great  expectations.  But  of  all  his  works  the  most 
curious  are,  his  "  Thoughts  in  Prison,  in  five  parts,  viz.  the 
Imprisonment,  the  Retrospect,  public  Punishment,  the 
Trial,  Futurity  :"  to  which  are  added,  his  speech  in  court 
before  sentence  was  pronounced  on  him  ;  his  last  prayer, 
written  the  night  before  his  death  ;  the  convict's  address 
to  his  unhappy  brethren,  and  other  miscellaneous  pieces, 
some  of  which  were  written  for  him  by  Dr.  Johnson.  Pre- 
fixed to  the  MS.  is  the  ensuing  note  by  himself :  "  April 
23,  1777.  I  began  these  thoughts  merely  from  the  im- 
pression of  my  mind,  without  plan,  purpose,  or  motive, 
more  than  the  situation  and  state  of  my  soul.  I  continued 
them  on  a  thoughtful  and  regular  plan  :  and  I  have  been 
enabled  wonderfully — in  a  state,  which  in  better  days  I 
should  have  supposed  would  have  destroyed  all  power  of 
reflection — to  bring  them  nearly  to  a  conclusion.  I  dedi- 
cate them  to  God,  and  to  the  reflecting  serious  amongst  my 
fellow-creatures;  and  I  bless  the  Almighty  for  the  ability  to 
go  through  them,  amidst  the  terrors  of  this  dire  place,  and 
the  bitter  anguish  of  my  disconsolate  mind. — The  thinking 
will  easily  pardon  all  inaccuracies,  as  I  am  neither  able  nor 
willing  to  read  over  these  melancholy  lines  with  a  curious 
and  critical  eye.  They  are  imperfect,  but  the  language  of 
the  heart  ;  and,  had  I  time  and  inclination,  might  and 

should  be  improved.     But W.  D." 

This  wretched  man  was  married  so  early  as  April  1751, 
even  before  he  was  in  orders,  or  had  any  certain  means  of 
supporting  himself;  but  his  wife,  "  though  largely  endow- 
ed with  personal  attractions,  was  certainly  deficient  in 
those  of  birth  and  fortune."  She  survived  to  the  year  1784. 
Dr.  Dodd  exhibits  the  most  awful  instance  known  in  our 
days  of  the  miserable  consequences  of  indulging  habits  of 


D  O  D  D.  153 

gaiety  and  expence  in  a  profession  to  which  the  world  looks 
for  a  more  edifying  example.     His  life,  by  his  own  con- 
fession, was  for  many  years  fearfully  erroneous.     But  the 
most  remarkable  part  of  his  history  was  the  uncommon  in- 
terest excited  in  the  public  mind,   and  the  numerous  peti- 
tions presented  to  the  throne   in  his  favour.     Even  the 
talents  of  Dr.  Johnson  were  engaged  to  give  a  fair  colour- 
ing to  his  case,  and  to  combine  with  public   sympathy  a 
high  opinion  of  the  talents  of  which  the  world  was  about 
to  be  deprived.     For  this  purpose  the  pen  of  that  eminent 
writer  was  employed  in  writing  those  papers  and  docu- 
ments which,  to  be  any  thing,  ought  to  have  been  written 
by  Dodd  himself,  but  which,   being  immediately  known  to 
be  Johnson's,  could  only  be  considered  as  a  part  of  that 
literary  quackery  which  Dodd  had  so  often  practised.     Dr. 
Johnson  appears  indeed  in  this  instance  to  have  been  more 
swayed  by  popular  judgment,  than  he  would  perhaps  have 
been  willing  to  allow.     The  cry  was,  the  honour  of  the 
clergy ;  but  if  the  honour  of  the  clergy  was  tarnished,  it 
was  by  Dodd's  crime,  and  not  his  punishment ;  for  his  life 
had  been  so  long  a  disgrace  to  his  cloth,  that  he  had  de- 
prived himself  of  the  sympathy  which  attaches  to  the  first 
deviation  from  rectitude,  and  few  criminals  could  have  had 
less  claim  to  such  a  display  of  popular  feeling. l 

DODiNGTON  (GEORGE  BUBB),  LORD  MELCOMBE,  the 
son  of  a  gentleman  of  fortune  in  Dorsetshire*,  was  born 
in  1691,  and  appears  to  have  been  educated  at  Oxford. 
In  1715  he  was  elected  member  of  parliament  for  Win- 
chelsea,  and  was  soon  after  appointed  envoy-extraordinary 
at  the  court  of  Spain,  in  which  capacity  he  signed  the 
treaty  of  Madrid,  and  remained  there  until  1717.  In 
1720,  by  the  death  of  his  uncle  George  Dodington  of 
Eastbury  in  Dorsetshire,  he  came  into  possession  of  a  very 
large  estate  in  that  county,  on  which  he  built  a  magnificent 

1  Memoirs  prefixed  to  his  "  Thoughts  in  Prison." — Historical  Memoirs  of 
his  Life  and  Writings,  1777,  Svo,  written  by  the  late  Isaac  Reed. — Jones's  Life  of 
Home,  p.  54. — Gent.  Mag.  LX.  1010,  1066,  1077,  where  are  some  feeble  at- 
tempts  to  prove  him  a  penitent. — Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson,. 

*  It  has  usually  been  said  that  he  who,  by  that  right  became  possessed 
was  the  son  of  an  apothecary  ;  but  a  of  the  estate  and  magnificent  house  at 
correspondent  in  the  British  Critic  for  Kastbury,  after  the  death  of  lord  Mel- 
Feb.  1809,  gives  the  following  account  combe.  The  other  married  an  Irish 
of  the  family.  There  were  two  heiresses  fortune-hunter  of  the  name  of  Bulib, 
in  Somersetshire  of  the  name  of  Dod-  and  the  offspring  of  this  marriage  was 
insrton;  one  was  married  into  the  fa-  the  subject  of  the  present  article. 
.Judy  of  the  marquis  of  Buckingham, 


154  D  O  D  I  N  G  T  O  N. 

seat  at  the  expence  of  140,000/.  which  was  often  the  resi- 
dence of  the  first  writers  of  the  times,  of  Thomson,  Young, 
Pitt,  Lyttelton,  &c.  and  the  beauties  of  which  have  been 
frequently  celebrated  by  them.  On  this  great  accession  of 
property,  he  took  the  surname  of  Dodington.  In  1721  he 
was  appointed  lord  lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Somerset  ; 
in  1724  was  constituted  a  lord  of  the  treasury,  and  obtained 
the  lucrative  o  trice  of  clerk  of  the  peils  in  Ireland.  While 
he  was  lord  of  the  treasury,  Thomson  dedicated  the  first 
edition  of  his  "  Summer"  to  him,  in  1727;  but  this  dedi- 
cation, of  the  flattery  of  which  Thomson  became  probably 
ashamed,  was  never  reprinted. 

At  this  period  Dodington  closely  connected  himself  with 
sir    Robert   Walpole,  and    in   1726    published    a    poetical 
epistle  addressed  to  that  minister,  which  is  remarkable  only 
for  its  servility,  and    which   he  afterwards,  changing   the 
name,   addressed   to  lord    Bute.     In  1734  he  was  elected 
member  for  Weymouth,  and  in  1737  he   took   a  very  de- 
cided part  in   the  contest   between    George    II.    and   the 
prince  of  Wales,  in   the   question  about  the  augmentation 
of  his   allowance,  and   a  jointure  for  the  princess.     This 
transaction    forms  one  of  the  best  parts  of  his   "  Diary," 
lately  published.     At  this  time  he  appears  to  have  acted 
with  some  coolness  towards  sir  Robert  Walpole,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  he  was,  in  1740,  dismissed  from  his  seat 
in  the  treasury,  and  joined  the  ranks  of  opposition  ;  but 
although   his   new  friends  succeeded  in  procuring  the  dis- 
missal of  the  Walpole  administration,   Dodington  was  pro- 
bably disappointed,  since  he  became  principally  concerned 
in  that  opposition  which  brought  about  the  downfall  of  this 
new  administration.     On  their  succession  to  power  in  1745, 
he  was  made  treasurer  of  the  navy,  and  sworn  of  the  privy- 
council,  but  his  versatility  would  not  permit  him  to  remain 
steady  to  this  party.     In  March  1749,  the  prince  of  Wales 
offered  him  a   full  return  to  his  favour,  and  the  principal 
direction  of  his  affairs,  to  which   Dodington  agreed,  and 
resigned  his  office  of  treasurer  of  the  navy.      He  now  fan- 
cied himself  at  the  head  of  a  formidable  band,   whom   he 
was   about  to  muster  and  train,   when  almost  immediately 
an   opposition   was    formed    against   him    in    the   prince's 
household,  and,  as  he  informs  us,  he  foresaw   there  was 
no  prospect  of  "  doing  any  good."      He   continued,  how- 
ever, in  the  household  until  the  prince's  death,  which  put 
an  end  to  the  hopes  of  all  his  highness's  dependents. 


D  O  D  I  N  G  T  O  N.  155 

For  some  time,  Mr.  Dodington,  although  desirous  of  re- 
gaining his  influence  at  court,  found  all  his  efforts  unsuc- 
cessful ;  hut  at  length,  on  the  sudden  change  which  took 
place  in  1755,  he  accepted  his  former  post  of  treasurer  of 
the  navy  under  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  which  he  retained 
until,  another  change  taking  place  the  following  year,  he 
was  again  left  alone,  and  gave  up  all  hopes  of  establishing 
himself  at  court  during  that  reign.  On  the  accession  of  his 
present  majesty  he  was  very  early  received  into  the  con- 
fidence of  lord  Bute,  and  in  1761  was  advanced  to  the 
peerage  by  the  title  of  lord  Melcombe,  yet  he  attained  no 
ostensible  post,  nor  indeed  did  he  long  survive  his  baronial 
honours,  as  he  died  at  his  house  at  Hammersmith,  July 
28,  1762. 

Lord  Melcombe  is  allowed  to  have  been  generous,  mag- 
nificent, and  convivial,  but  more  respected  as  a  private 
gentleman  than  as  a  politician.  In  the  one  character  he 
was  free,  easy,  and  engaging  ;  in  the  other  intriguing, 
close,  and  reserved.  His  reigning  passion  was  to  be  well 
at  court,  and  to  this  object  he  sacrificed  every  circumstance 
of  his  life.  Lord  Orford  says  of  him  that  he  was  "  osten- 
tatious in  his  person,  houses,  and  furniture,  and  wanted  in 
his  expences  the  taste  he  never  wanted  in  his  conversation. 
Pope  and  Churchill  treated  him  more  severely  than  he  de- 
served, a  fate  that  may  attend  a  man  of  the  greatest  wit, 
when  his  parts  are  more  suited  to  society  than  to  compo- 
sition. The  verse  remains,  the  bon-mols  and  sallies  are 
forgotten."  He  was  handsome,  and  of  a  striking  figure, 
but  in  his  latter  days  was  probably  singular  in  his  dress. 
Churchill  ridicules  his  wig,  and  Hogarth  has  introduced  it 
in  one  of  his  "  orders  of  periwigs."  His  patronage  of 
learned  men  descended  from  Young,  Thomson,  and  Glover, 
to  the  meaner  political  hirelings  who  frequented  the  prince's 
court.  And  among  his  intimate  friends,  besides  Young, 
Thomson,  and  Glover,  were  Fielding,  Bentley,  Voltaire, 
Lyttelton,  lord  Chesterfield,  lord  Peterborough,  Dr.  Gre- 
gory Sharpe,  &c.  and  among  his  lower  associates,  Ralph, 
Paul  Whitehead,  and  a  Dr.  Thomson,  a  physician  with- 
out practice  or  manners,  served  to  add  to  the  hilarity 
of  his  table.  Most  of  his  biographers  have  reported  that 
he  was  a  single  man,  but  he  certainly  was  married,  as  in 
his  letters  he  frequently  speaks  of  Mrs.  Dodington,  whose 
heart  was  placed  in  an  urn  at  the  top  of  an  obelisk  which 
he  erected  at  Hammersmith.  When  she  died  we  kuovr 


Io6  D  O  D  I  N  G  T  O  N. 

not,  but  as  she  left  no  family,  he  is  reported  to  have  used 
some  singular  expedients  tor  procuring  au  heir,  which  were 
as  unsuccessful  as  immoral  and  foolish.  He  bequeathed 
his  whole  property,  a  few  legacies  excepted,  to  the  late 
Thomas  Wyndhajn,  esq.  of  Hammersmith.  The  mansion 
which  he  built  at  Eastbury  came,  as  already  observed  in 
the  note,  to  the  marquis  of  Buckingham,  and  was  taken 
down  a  few  years  ago.  Part  of  the  offices  were  left  stand- 
ing, and  have  been  converted  into  a  very  convenient  house 
by  J.  Wedgewood,  esq.  who  purchased  the  estate  of  the 
marquis  of  Buckingham.  His  villa  at  Hammersmith  became 
a  few  years  ago  the  property  of  the  margrave  of  Anspach. 

Lord  Melcombe  has  some  literary  claims.  Two  of  his 
Memorials  to  the  court  of  Spain  may  be  seen  in  the  Histo- 
rical Register  for  1716,  p.  205 — 207,  &c.  He  was  con- 
cerned in  writing  the  "  Remembrancer,"  an  anti-minis- 
terial paper,  published  in  1744;  and  was  the  avowed 
Author  of  "  Occasional  observations  on  a  double- titled 
paper  about  the  clear  produceof  the  Civil  List  Revenue, 
from  Midsummer  1727  to  Midsummer  1761."  A  pamphlet 
on  the  "  Expedition  to  Rochefort"  has  also  been  ascribed 
to  him.  His  poetical  efforts,  some  of  which  have  been 
admired,  were,  "  An  Epistle  to  sir  Robert  Walpole,  writ- 
ten on  his  birth-day,  Aug.  26,"  printed  in  Dodsley's  Col- 
lection, and  afterwards,  as  we  have  mentioned,  addressed, 
mutatis  mutandis,  to  lord  Bute;  "  An  Epistle  from  John 
More,  apothecary  in  Abchurch  lane,  to  lord  Carteret,  upon 
the  treaty  of  Worms ;"  "  Verses  in  his  eating-room  at 
Hammersmith  ;"  "  Verses  to  Mrs.  Stubbs ;"  "  Verses  writ- 
ten a  little  before  his  death  to  Dr.  Young  ;"  some  "  Love 
Verses,"  and  other  poetry  unpublished,  and  most  of  which, 
it  is  said,  is  too  indelicate  for  publication  ;  "  An  Elegy  on 
the  Death  of  queen  Caroline"  is  printed  in  Coxe's  Life  of 
Walpole.  But  he  will  long  be  best  known  by  his  cele- 
brated "  Diary,"  published  in  1784  by  Henry  Penruddock 
Wyndham,  esq.  On  a  publication  so  generally  read,  our 
remarks  may  be  spared.  The  public  owe  much  to  the 
editor  for  thus  "  unveiling  the  mysterious  intrigues  of  a 
court,  and  for  exposing  the  latent  causes  of  opposition." 
The  whole  proves,  that  while  this  publication  reflects  "  some 
degree  of  honour  on  lord  Melcombe's  abilities,  it  show* 
his  political  conduct  to  have  been  wholly  directed  by  the 
base  motives  of  avarice,  vanity,  and  selfishness."  l 

1  Diary,  as  above,  the  best  edition  of  which  is  that  of  1809,  with  a  copiou$ 


D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E.  157 

DODDRIDGE  (Sin  JOHN),  an  eminent  English  lawyer, 
the  son  of  Richard  Doddridge,  of  a  Devonshire  family, 
was  born  at  Barnstaple  in  1555.     In  1572  he  was  entered 
of  Exeter  college,  Oxford,  where  he  studied  four  years; 
after  which  he  was  removed  to  the  Middle  Temple,  Lon- 
don, where  he  became  a  great  proficient  in  the  law,  and 
a  noted  counsellor.     In  the  forty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of 
queen  Elizabeth  he  was  Lent  reader  of  that  house  ;  and  on 
the  20th  of  January,   1603-4,  he  was  called  to  the  degree 
of  serjeant-at-law,  at  which  time  he  had    the  honour  of 
being  appointed  serjeant  to  Henry  prince  of  Wales.     From 
this  employment  he  was  raised,  in  the  succeeding  year,  to 
be  solicitor-general  to  the  king,  and  on  the  25th  of  June 
1607,  he  was  constituted  his  majesty's  principal  serjeant- 
at-law,  and  was  knighted  on  the  fifth  of  July  following.    In 
February  1612-13,  he  was  created  M.  A.  at  his  chambers 
in  Serjeants  Inn  by  the  vice-chancellor,  the  two  proctors, 
and  five  other  members  of  the  university  of  Oxford.     This 
peculiar  honour  was  conferred  upon  him  in  gratitude  for 
the  great  service  he  had  done  to  the  university  in  several 
law-suits  depending  between  the  city  of  Oxford  and   the 
university.     On  the  22d  of  April  1013,  he   was  appointed 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  court  of  king's  bench,  in  which, 
office  he   continued   till   his    death.     In    this    station   he 
appears  to  have  conducted  himself  with  great  integrity  as 
well  as  ability.     However,    in  April,   162«,   he  and  the 
other  judges  of  the  court  were  called  upon  to  assign  their 
reasons  in  the  house  of  lords,  for  having  given  judgment 
against  admitting  five  gentlemen  to  bail,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  for  refusing  the   loan  which  had  lately  been 
demanded  by  the  crown.     Sir  Nicholas  Hyde,  lord  chief 
justice,  sir  John  Doddridge,  Mr.  Justice  Jones,  and  Mr. 
Justice  Whitlocke,  each  of  them  spoke  upon  the  occasion, 
and  made  the  best  defence  which  the  nature  of  the  case 
would  admit.     If  they  were    guilty  of  a  mistake,  which 
cannot  now  reasonably    be  doubted,  they  seem  to   have 
been  led  into  it  in  the  sincerity  of  their  hearts,  from  the 
notions  they  entertained  of  regal  power,    and   probably 
from  their  perceiving  the  drift  of  parliament  in  these  pro- 
ceedings.    Sir  John  Doddridge,  in  his  speech,  asserts  the, 

index. — Faulkner's  Hist,  of  Fulham. — Park's  Royal  and  Noble  Authors. — Cum- 
berland's Life. — Some  account  of  his  uncle,  Knight's  Life  ofColet. — Hawkins'* 
Life  of  Johnson. — Dodsley's,  Pcareh's,  and  NiclioU's  Poems. — Bowles's  edition 
of  Pope's  \Yoiks,— Louoj^r's  Common-place  li^ok,  vol.  1. — Cose's  Life  of 


15S  DODDRIDGE. 

purity  of  his  own  character  in  the  following  terms:  "  It  is 
no  more  fit  for  a  judge  to  decline  to  give  an  account  of  his 
doings  than  for  a  Christian  of  his  faith.     God  knoweth  I 
have  endeavoured  always  to  keep   a  good  conscience;  for 
a  troubled  one  who  can  bear?  1  have  now  sat  in  this  court 
fifteen  years,  and  I  should  know  something.      Surely,  if  I 
had  gone  in  a  mill  so  long,  dust  would  cleave  to  my  clothes. 
I  am  old,  and  have  one  foot  in  the  grave  ;  therefore  I  will 
look  to  the  better  part  as  near  as  1  can.     But  omnia  haberc 
in  memoria,  et  in  nullo   errarc,  divinum  potius  est   quain 
human  um."     He  died  Sept.  13,  1628,  in  the  seventy-third 
year  of  his  age,  and   was  buried  in  the  ambulatory  before 
the  door  of  the  library,  formerly  called  Lady  Mary's  Cha- 
pel,   in    the    cathedral    church    of   Exeter.     Within    that 
library  is  a  very  sumptuous  monument  erected  to  his  me- 
mory, containing  his  figure  and   that  of  his  wife,  cut  in 
alabaster,  under  a  stately  arch  supported  by  marble  pillars. 
This  learned  judge,   by  his  happy  education,  accompanied 
with  excellent  natural  parts  and  unremitted  industry,  be- 
came so  general  a  scholar,  that  it  was  said  of  him,  that  it 
was    difficult   to  determine   whether   he  were  the  better 
artist,  divine,  civil  or  common  lawyer.     Among  his  other 
studies,  he   was  a  great  lover  of  antiquities,  and  attained 
to  such  an  eminence  of  knowledge  and  skill  in  that  depart- 
ment of  literature,  that  he   was   regarded  as  one  of  the 
ablest  members  of  the  famous  society  of  antiquaries,   which 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  in  1571,  but  which  more  par- 
ticularly flourished  from  1590  to  1614.   Rewrote,  I.  "The 
Lawyer's  Light;   or,  due   direction   for   the  study  of  the 
Law,"   London,  1629,   4to.     2.  "  A  complete  Parson,  or  a 
description   of  advowsons  and  church  livings,  delivered  in 
several  readings,  in  an  inn  of  chancery  called  the  New 
Inn,"  printed  1602,   1603,   1630,  4to.     3.  "  The  History 
of  the   ancient  and  modern  estate  of  the   principality  of 
Wales,  duchy  of  Cornwall,  and  earldom  of  Chester,"  1630, 
4to.     4.  "  The  English  Lawyer,  a  treatise  describing  a  me- 
thod for  the  managing  of  the  Laws  of  this  Land,  and  ex- 
pressing the  best  qualities  requisite  in  the  student,  prac- 
tiser,  judges,    &c."    London,    1631,    4to.     5.   "  Opinion 
touching  the  antiquity,  power,  order,  state,  manner,  per- 
sons, and  proceedings,  of  the  High  Courts  of  Parliament 
in    England,"    London,    1658,    8vo.     6.   "  A  Treatise  of 
particular  Estates,"    London,    1677,    duodecimo,    printed 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  edition  of  William  Noy's  Works, 


D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E.  159 

entitled,  "  The  Ground  and  Maxims  of  the  Law."  7.  "A 
true  representation  of  forepassed  Parliaments  to  the  view 
of  the  present  times  and  posterity."  This  still  remains  in 
manuscript.  Sir  John  Doddridge  also  enlarged  a  book 
called  "The  Magazine  of  Honour,"  London,  1642.  7'he 
same  book  was  afterwards  published  under  his  name  by  the 
title  of  "  The  Law  of  Nobility  and  Peerage,"  Lond.  16S7, 
1658,  Svo.  In  the  Collection  of  curious  Discourses,  writ- 
ten by  eminent  antiquaries,  are  two  dissertations  by  our 
judge  ;  one  of  which  is  on  the  dimensions  of  the  land  of 
England,  and  the  other  on  the  office  and  duty  of  heralds 
in  this  country.  Mr.  Bridgman,  in  his  "  Legal  Biblio- 
graphy," informs  us  that  many  valuable  works  have  been 
attributed  to  sir  John  Doddridge,  which  in  their  title-pages 
have  borne  the  names  of  others.  He  mentions  particularly 
Sheppard's  "  Law  of  Common  Assurances  touching  Deeds 
in  general,"  and  "  Wentworth's  office  and  dutie  of  Exe- 
cutors;" both  which  are  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Doddridge.1 

DODDRIDGE  (PHILIP),  an  eminent  dissenting  divine, 
great-grand-nephew  to  the  preceding,  was  the  son  of  the 
nonconformist  rector  of  Shepperton  in  Middlesex,  and 
was  born  in  London,  June  26th,  1702.  At  his  birth  he 
was  so  weakly  that  he  was  regarded  as  dead  ;  but  by  atten- 
tion and  care  he  recovered  some  degree  of  strength.  His 
constitution,  however,  was  always  feeble,  and  probably 
rendered  more  so  by  the  assiduity  with  which  he  prosecuted 
his  studies  and  public  services.  To  his  pious  parents  he 
was  indebted  for  early  instruction  in  religion,  and  for  those 
salutary  impressions  which  were  never  erased  from  his 
mind.  His  classical  education  commenced  in  London,  but 
being  left  an  orphan  in  his  thirteenth  year,  he  was  removed 
to  a  private  school  at  St.  Alban's,  where  he  had  the  hap- 
piness of  commencing  an  acquaintance  with  Mr.  (afterwards 
Dr.)  Samuel  Clark,  the  dissenting  minister  of  the  place; 
and  having  lost  his  whole  patrimony  after  his  father's  death, 
the  protection  of  this  friend  enabled  him  to  pursue  the 
course  of  his  studies.  In  17  IS  he  left  St.  Alban's,  and 
retired  to  the  house  of  his  sister,  the  wife  of  Mr.  John 
Nettleton,  a  dissenting  minister  at  Ongar,  in  Essex,  and 
while  deliberating  on  the  course  of  life  which  he  should 

1  Alh.    Ox.    vol.    I. — Hearne's    Discourses,  vol.    If.    p.   432,    &c. — Print's ' 
Worthies  of  Dftvon. —  Puller's   Worthies. — Biog.  Brit,  note  <>u  the  Life  of  Or. 
,  at  tlie  liejjin-j'.ng. — Bridgfflau's  Le^ai 


BODDRIDGE. 

pursue,  he  received  offers  of  encouragement  and  support 
from  the  duchess  of  Bedford,  if  he  chose  to  be  educated 
in  one  of  the  universities  for  the  church  of  England ;  but 
could  not  conscientiously  comply  with  the  terms  of  con- 
formity. Others  advised  him  to  devote  himself  to  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law ;  but  before  he  had  finally  determined, 
he  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Clark,  with  generous  offers 
of  assistance,  if  he  chose  the  ministry  among  the  dissenters. 
These  offers  he  thankfully  accepted  ;  and  after  continuing 
for  some  months  at  St.  Alban's  in  the  house  of  his  benefac- 
tor, he  was  placed,  in  October  1719,  under  the  tuition  of 
the  reverend  John  Jennings,  who  kept  an  academy  for  the 
education  of  nonconformist  ministers  at  Kibworth  in  Lei- 
cestershire. Here  he  paid  particular  attention  to  classical 
literature,  and  cultivated  an  acquaintance  with  the  Greek 
writers,  and  also  with  the  best  authors  of  his  own  country. 
In  1722,  having  obtained  an  ample  testimonial  from  a 
committee  of  ministers,  by  whom  he  was  examined,  he 
became  a  preacher  at  Kibworth,  which  he  preferred,  be- 
cause it  was  an  obscure  village,  and  the  congregation  was 
small,  so  that  he  could  pursue  his  studies  with  little  inter- 
ruption. During  his  residence  at  this  place,  from  June 
1723  to  October  1725,  he  is  said  to  have  excelled  as  a 
preacher.  At  first  he  paid  particular  attention  to  his  com- 
positions, and  thus  acquired  a  habit  of  delivering  his  senti- 
ments usually  with  judgment,  and  always  with  ease  and 
freedom  of  language,  when  he  was  afterwards,  by  a  multi- 
plicity of  engagements,  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  extem- 
pore speaking.  In  1725,  he  removed  to  Market-Har- 
borough,  to  enjoy  the  conversation  and  advice  of  Mr, 
Some,  the  pastor  of  the  congregation  in  that  place ;  and 
after  the  year  1727,  when  he  was  chosen  assistant  to  Mr. 
Some,  he  preached  alternately  at  Kibworth  and  Market- 
Harborough.  He  received  several  invitations  from  con- 
gregations much  more  numerous  than  these ;  but  he  de- 
termined to  adhere  to  the  plan,  which  he  had  adopted,  of 
pursuing  his  schemes  of  improvement  in  a  more  private 
residence.  When  he  left  the  academy,  his  tutor,  Mr.  Jen- 
nings, not  long  before  his  death,  which  happened  in  1723, 
advised  him  to  keep  in  view  the  improvement  of  the  course 
of  lectures  on  which  he  had  attended  ;  and  this  advice  he 
assiduously  regarded  during  his  retirement  at  Kibworth. 
Mr.  Jennings  foresaw,  that,  in  case  of  his  own  death,  Mr. 
Doddridge  was  the  most  likely  of  any  of  his  pupils  to  com- 


D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E.  161 

plete  the  schemes  which  lie  had  formed,  and  to  undertake 
the  conduct  of  a  theological  academy.  Mr.  Doddridge's 
qualifications  for  the  office  of  tutor  were  generally  known 
and  approved,  in  consequence  of  a  plan  for  conducting  the 
preparatory  studies  of  young  persons  intended  for  the  mi- 
nistry, which  he  had  drawn  up  at  the  desire  of  a  friend, 
whose  death  prevented  his  carrying  it  into  effect.  This 
plan  was  shewn  to  Dr.  Watts,  who  had  then  no  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  author ;  but  he  was  so  much  pleased 
with  it,  that  he  concurred  with  others  in  the  opinion,  that 
the  person  who  had  drawn  it  up  was  best  qualified  for  exe- 
cuting it.  Accordingly  he  was  unanimously  solicited  to 
undertake  the  arduous  office;  and  after  some  hesitation, 
and  with  a  very  great  degree  of  diffidence,  he  consented 
to  undertake  it.  Availing  himself  of  all  the  information 
and  assistance  which  he  could  obtain  from  conversation  and 
correspondence  with  his  numerous  friends,  he  opened  his 
academy  at  Midsummer,  in  1729,  at  Market- Harborongh. 
Having  continued  in  this  situation  for  a  few  months,  he  was 
invited  by  a  congregation  at  Northampton  ;  and  he  removed 
thither  in  December  1729  ;  and  in  March  of  the  following 
year,  he  was  ordained  according  to  the  mode  usually  prac- 
tised among  dissenters.  In  this  place  he  engaged,  in  a 
very  high  degree,  the  love  and  attachment  of  his  congre- 
gation ;  and  he  observes,  in  his  last  will,  "  that  he  had 
spent  the  most  delightful  hours  of  his  life  in  assisting  the 
devotions  of  as  seuious,  as  grateful,  and  as  deserving  a 
people,  as  perhaps  any  minister  had  ever  the  happiness  to 
serve." 

In  1730,  Mr.  Doddridge  entered  into  the  matrimonial 
relation,  with  a  lady  who  possessed  every  qualification 
that  could  conduce  to  his  happiness,  and  who  survived  him. 
many  years.  At  the  first  removal  of  the  academy  to  North- 
ampton, the  number  of  students  was  small;  but  it  increased 
every  year;  so  that,  in  1734,  it  became  necessary  to  have- 
a  stated  assistant,  to  whom  the  care  of  some  of  the  junior 
pupils  was  committed.  The  number  of  students  was,  one 
year  with  another,  thirty-four.  The  system  of  education 
being  liberal,  many  received  instruction  in  his  academy, 
who  were  members  of  the  established  church.  And  in  the 
course  of  the  twenty  years,  during  which  Mr.  Doddridg» 
presided  over  it,  he  acquired  high  reputation  both  as  a. 
preacher,  tutor,  and  author.  Of  his  detached  works,  con- 
sisting of  tracts  and  sermons,  it  would  be  unnecessary  ta 

VOL.  XII.  M 


162  D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E. 

give  a  particular  list,  as  they  are  now  published  in  a  col- 
lection of  his  works.  The  most  popular  of  them  was  his 
"  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul,"  which  has 
gone  through  numerous  editions,  and  been  translated  into 
the  Dutch,  German,  Danish,  and  French  languages ;  and 
the  most  useful  is  his  "  Family  Expositor,"  in  6  vols.  4to, 
which  has  lately  risen  in  reputation,  and  been  often  re- 
printed in  6  vols.  8vo.  His  "  Course  of  Lectures,"  pub- 
lished after  his  death  by  the  rev.  Samuel  Clark,  1763,  4to,  is 
also  a  work  of  great  utility,  and  was  republished  in  1794, 
2  vols.  Svo,  by  Dr.  Kippis,  with  very  extensive  and  valu- 
able additions.  Dr.  Dodd ridge  also  wrote  some  hymns, 
and  though  inferior  to  those  of  Dr.  Watts,  he  gave  at  least 
one  evidence  of  his  poetical  taste  and  powers,  in  the  ex- 
cellent lines  which  he  wrote  on  the  motto  to  the  arms  of 
his  family,  ll  dum  vivimus  vivamus,"  which  are  highly 
commended  by  Dr.  Johnson,  and  represented  as  containing 
one  of  the  finest  epigrams  in  the  English  language. 

"  Live,  while  you  live,"  the  epicure  would  say, 
"  And  seize  the  pleasures  of  the  present  day." 
"  Live,  while  you  live,"  the  sacred  preacher  cries, 
"  And  give  to  God  each  moment  as  it  flies  :" 
Lord,  in  my  views  let  both  united  be, 
I  live  in  pleasure,  when  I  live  to  thee. 

From  the  course  of  Dr.  Doddridge's  life,  and  the  multi- 
plicity of  his  labours,  his  application  must  have  been  in- 
cessant, and  with  little  time  for  exercise  and  recreation. 
His  constitution  was  always  feeble,  and  his  friends  depre- 
cated the  injurious  effect?  of  his  unintermitting  assiduity  and 
exertion.  By  degrees,  however,  his  delicate  frame  was  so 
impaired,  that  it  could  not  bear  the  attack  of  disease.  In 
December  1750,  he  went  to  St.  Alban's  to  preach  the  fu- 
neral sermon  of  his  friend  Dr.  Clark,  and  in  the  course  of 
his  journey  he  caught  a  cold,  which  brought  on  a  pulmo- 
nary complaint,  that  resisted  every  remedy.  But  not- 
withstanding the  advice  and  remonstrances  of  those  who 
apprehended  his  death,  and  wished  to  prolong  his  useful- 
ness, he  would  not  decline  or  diminish  the  employments 
in  the  academy,  and  with  his  congregation,  in  which  he* 
took  great  delight.  At  length  he  was  obliged  to  submit; 
and  to  withdraw  from  all  public  services  to  the  house  of 
his  friend  Mr.  Orton,  at  Shrewsbury.  Notwithstanding 
some  relief  which  his  recess  from  business  afforded  him, 
his  disorder  gained  ground  ;  and  his  medical  friends  ad- 


D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E.  163 

vised  him  to  make  trial  of  the  Bristol  waters.  The  phy- 
sicians of  this  place  afforded  him  little  hope  of  lasting 
benefit ;  and  he  received  their  report  of  his  case  with 
Christian  fortitude  and  resignation.  As  the  last  resort  in 
his  case,  he  was  advised  to  pass  the  winter  in  a  warmer 
climate  ;  and  at  length  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  go  to 
Lisbon,  where  he  met  with  every  attention  which  friend- 
ship and  medical  skill  could  afford  him.  But  his  case  was 
hopeless.  Arriving  at  Lisbon  on  the  13th  of  October,  the 
rainy  season  came  on,  and  prevented  his  deriving  any  be- 
nefit from  air  and  exercise,  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  seized 
with  a  colliquative  diarrhoea,  which  rapidly  exhausted  his 
remaining  strength.  He  preserved,  however,  to  the  last 
the  same  calmness,  vigour,  and  joy  of  mind,  which  he 
had  felt  and  expressed  through  the  whole  of  his  dis- 
ease. The  only  anxiety  he  seemed  to  feel  was  occasioned 
by  the  situation  in  which  Mrs.  Doddridge  would  be  left 
upon  his  removal.  To  his  children,  his  congregation,  and 
his  friends  in  general,  he  desired  to  be  remembered  in  the 
most  affectionate  manner  ;  nor  did  he  forget  a  single  per- 
son, not  even  his  servant,  in  the  effusions  of  his  benevo- 
lence. Many  devout  sentiments  and  aspirations  were 
uttered  by  him  on  the  last  day  but  one  preceding  that  of 
his  death.  At  length,  his  release  took  place  on  the  26th 
of  October,  O.  S.  about  3  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  and 
though  he  died  in  a  foreign  land,  and  in  a  certain  sense 
among  strangers,  his  decease  was  embalmed  with  many 
tears,  nor  was  he  molested,  in  his  last  moments,  by  the 
officious  zeal  of  any  of  the  priests  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
His  body  was  opened,  and  his  lungs  were  found  to  be  in 
a  very  ulcerated  state.  His  remains  were  deposited  in  the 
most  respectful  manner  in  the  burying-ground  belonging 
to  the  British  factory  at  Lisbon.  His  congregation  erected 
in  his  meeting-house  a  handsome  monument  to  his  me- 
mory, on  which  is  an  inscription  drawn  up  by  his  much 
esteemed  and  ingenious  friend,  Gilbert  West,  esq.  Dr. 
Doddridge  left  four  children,  one  son  and  three  daughters, 
and  his  widow  survived  him  more  than  forty  years.  His  fu- 
neral sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Orton  from  I  Cor.  xv.  54; 
and  it  was  extensively  circulated  under  the  title  of  "  The 
Christian's  triumph  over  death."  His  character  stands  high 
among  the  dissenters,  no  man  with  equal  powers  and  equal 
popularity  having  appeared  among  them  in  the  course  of 
last  century,  Dr.  Watts  excepied.  Dr.  Doddridge  was 
M  2 


164  DODDRIDGE. 

an  indefatigable  student,  and  his  mind  was  furnished  with 
.a  rich  stock  of  various  learning.  His  acquaintance  with 
books,  ancient  and  modern,  was  very  extensive ;  and  if 
not  a  profound  scholar,  he  was  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
the  learned  languages  to  make  a  considerable  figure  as  a 
critic  and  commentator.  To  history,  ecclesiastical  as  well 
as  civil,  he  had  paid  no  small  degree  of  attention  ;  and 
\vhile  from  his  disposition  he  was  led  to  cultivate  a  taste 
for  polite  literature  in  general,  more  than  for  the  abstruser 
parts  of  science,  he  was  far  from  being  a  stranger  to  ma- 
thematical and  philosophical  studies.  But  the  favourite 
object  of  his  pursuit,  and  that  in  which  his  chief  excel- 
lence lay,  was  divinity,  taking  that  word  in  its  largest 
sense.  As  a  preacher,  Dr.  Doddriclge  was  much  esteemed 
and  very  popular.  But  his  biographers  have  had  some 
difficulty  in  vindicating  him  from  the  charge  of  being  what 
is  called  a  trimmer,  that  is,  accommodating  his  discourses 
to  congregations  of  different  sentiments  ;  nor  do  we  think 
they  have  succeeded  in  proving  him  exempt  from  the  ap- 
pearance at  least  of  inconsistency,  or  obsequious  timidity. 
We  are  informed,  however,  that  his  piety  was  ardent,  un- 
affected, and  cheerful,  and  particularly  displayed  in  ihe 
resignation  and  serenity  with  which  he  bore  his  affliction. 
His  moral  conduct  was  not  only  irreproachable,  but  in 
every  respect  exemplary.  To  his  piety  he  joined  the 
warmest  benevolence  towards  his  fellow- creatures,  which 
was  manifested  in  the  most  active  exertions  for  their  wel- 
fare within  the  compass  of  his  abilities  or  influence.  His 
private  manners  were  polite,  affable,  and  engaging;  which 
rendered  him  the  delight  of  those  who  had  the  happii. 
of  his  acquaintance.  No  man  exercised  more  candour  and 
moderation  towards  those  who  differed  from  him  in  reli- 
gious opinions.  Of  these  qualities  there  are  abundant 
proofs  in  the  extensive  correspondence  he  carried  on  with 
many  eminent  divines  in  the  establishment,  and  of  other 
persuasions. 

His  reputation  was  such,  and  the  respect  of  persons  of 
all  parties  and  denominations  for  his  various  excellent  qua- 
lities was  so  great,  that  in  the  close  of  his  life,  and  in  the 
scene  of  his  last  decline,  all  seemed  to  vie  in  testifying 
their  solicitude  for  his  recovery,  and  their  wishes  for  his 
obtaining  every  accommodation  that  would  render  his  mind 
and  his  circumstances  easy.  During  his  stay  at  Bristol, 
previously  to  his  voyage  to  Lisbon,  he  received  very  par- 


D  O  D  D  R  I  D  G  E.  165 

ticular  expressions  of  regard  from  a  clergyman  of  the  es- 
tablished church.  When  Dr.  Doddridge  undesignedly 
threw  out  a  hint  of  the  principal  reason  which  caused  him 
to  demur  about  the  voyage,  and  that  was  the  expence  of 
it,  this  gentleman  was  both  generous  and  active  in  pro- 
moting a  subscription  to  defray  the  charges  of  his  voyage. 
Nathaniel  Neal,  esq.  an  eminent  Solicitor  in  London,  was 
also  very  zealous  in  the  management  of  this  business,  which 
lie  conducted  with  such  success  as  to  be  able  to  inform  the 
doctor,  that  instead  of  selling  what  our  author  had  in  the 

*  O 

funds,  he  should  be  able  through  the  benevolence  of 
friends,  to  add  something  to  it,  after  the  expence  of  the 
voyage  was  defrayed.  As  Mrs.  Doddridge  forfeited  a  con- 
siderable annuity,  to  which  as  a  widow  she  would  have 
been  entitled,  by  her  husband's  dying  abroad,  a  subscrip- 
tion was  opened  for  her,  chiefly  in  London,  and  in  a  great 
measure  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Neal,  by  means  of 
which  a  sum  was  raised,  which  was  more  than  equaj  to  the 
annuity  that  had  been  forfeited.1 

DODOENS,  or  DODON^US  .(REMEERT),  a  learned 
physician  and  botanist,  of  a  West  Friesland  family  of  good 
repute,  was  born  at  Mechlin,  in  1517.  He  studied  me- 
dicine at  Louvaine,  and  afterwards  visited  the  celebrated 
universities  of  France  and  Italy,  and  to  his  medical  know- 
ledge added  an  acquaintance  with  the  classics  and  polite 
literature.  On  his  return  from  Italy,  his  reputation  pro- 
cured him  the  honour  of  being  appointee!  physician  to  the 
emperors  Maximilian  II.  and  Rodolph  II.  Having  been 
obliged  during  the  civil  wars  of  his  time  to  quit  the  im- 
perial court,  in  order  to  take  care  of  his  property  at  Mech- 
lin and  Antwerp,  he  resided  awhile  at  Cologne,  from, 
whence  he  was  persuaded  to  return  to  Antwerp ;  but  soon 
afterwards  he  became  professor  of  physic  in  the  newly- 
founded  university  of  Leyden,  with  an  ample  stipend. 
This  took  place  in  1582,  and  he  sustained  the  credit  of  his 
appointment  by  his  lectures  and  various  writings,  till  death 
put  a  period  to  his  labours  in  March  1585,  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  It  appears  by  his  epitaph  at  Ley- 
den,  that  he  left  a  son  of  his  own  name  behind  him. 

l  Life  by  Kippis,  in  the  Biog.  Brit,  a  most  prolix  and  disproportioned  article, 
judiciously  abridged  in  the  Cyclopaedia.  Much  information  may  be  derived 
from  Orion's  Life. — Letters  to  and  from  Dr.  Doddridge,  1790,  8vo. — Orion's 
Letters,  2  vols.  12mo.— Palmer's  Letters  to  Dissenting  Ministers,  2  vols. 
&c, 


166  D  O  D  O  E  N  S. 

Dodoens  is  recorded   to  have  excelled  in  a  knowledge 
of  the  history  of  his  own  country,  and  especially  in  genea- 
logical inquiries,  as  well  as  in  medicine.     His  chief  fame 
at  present  rests  on  his  botanical  publications,  particularly 
his  "  Pemptades,"  or  30  books  of  the  history  of  plants,   in 
1  vol.  folio,  published  at  Antwerp  in  1583,  and  again  in 
1612  and  1616.     This  is  still  a  book  of  general  reference 
on  account  of  the  wooden  cuts,  which  are  numerous  and 
expressive.     Hailer  reckons  it  "  a  good  and  useful  work, 
though  not  of  the  first  rate."     The  author  had  previously 
published  some  lesser  works  in  8vo,  as  "  Frugum  Histona," 
printed  at  Antwerp,  in  1552,  including  the  various  kinds 
of  corn  and  pulse,  with  their  virtues  and   qualities,  often 
copied,  as  Hailer  remarks,  literally  from  aneient  authors, 
who  perhaps  do  not  always  speak  of  the  same  plants.    This 
work,  likewise,  is  illustrated  by  wooden  cuts.      His  "  Her- 
barium Belgicum"  first  appeared  in  the  German  language 
in  1553,  and  again  in  1557;  which  last  Ci  us  ius  translated 
into  French.      From  the  French  edition    "  Henry  Lyte, 
esquyer"  composed  his  Herbrl,    which  is  pretty  nearly  a 
translation  of  the  whole.     It  was  published  in  1578,  and 
went  through  several  subsequent  editions.     This  work,  in 
its   various    languages   and   editions,    is    accompanied  by 
wooden  cuts,  very  inferior,  for  the  most  part,  to  those  in 
the  above-mentioned  "  Pemptades."     Halier  records  an 
epitome  of    Dodoens  by  William  Kam,  printed   at   Lon- 
don, in  1606,  4to,  under  the  title  of  "  Little  Dodoen." 
This  we  have  never  seen. 

Dodoens  published  two  8vo  volumes  of  "  Imagines" 
or  wooden  cuts  of  plants,  with  a  few  remarks,  which  went 
through  several  impressions,  but  are  now  seldom  used, 
being  superseded  by  his  "  Pemptades."  Some  of  the  best 
of  these  cuts  were  employed  in  his  "  Florum  et  Coronaria- 
rum  Odoratarumque  nonnullarum  Herbarum  Historia,"  8vo, 
published  at  Antwerp,  in  1569;  an  elegant  little  volume, 
resembling  the  8vo  editions  of  Clusius  ;  but  all  these 
figures  are  reprinted  in  the  "  Pemptades."  Hailer  speaks 
with  praise  of  the  figures  in  his  work  on  purging  and  poi- 
sonous herbs,  barks  and  roots,  Antwerp,  1574,  Svo,  and 
mentions  a  little  book  on  the  Vine,  &c.  without  cuts,  neither 
of  which  has  come  under  our  inspection.1 

'  Moreri.-r-Rees's  Cyclopaedia. — Niceron,    vol.    XXXVIII. — Fieheri  Thea- 
trucn,— foppen  Bibl.  fcelg.— Hailer  Bibl.  BoU 


D  O  D  S  L  E  Y.  167 

DODSLEY  (ROBERT),  an  English  poet  and  miscella- 
neous writer,  was  born  at  Mansfield,  in  Nottinghamshire, 
in  1703.  His  father  is  said  to  have  kept  the  tree-school 
•at  Mansfield,  a  situation  in  which  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
he  could  have  bestowed  some  education  on  his  children, 
yet  it  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  this  with  the  servile  track  of 
life  into  which  they  were  obliged  to  enter.  He  is  described 
as  a  little  deformed  man,  who,  after  having  a  large  family 
by  his  first  wife,  married  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  a  young 
girl  of  only  seventeen  years,  by  whom  he  had  a  child.  Of 
his  sons,  A  Ivory  lived  many  years,  and  died  in  the  service 
of  the  late  sir  George  Saville ;  Isaac  was  for  some  time 
gardener  to  Mr.  Allen,  of  Prior-park,  and  afterwards  to 
lord  Weymouth,  at  Long-leat.  In  these  two  families  he 
spent  fifty-two  years  of  his  life ;  and  has  the  credit  of 
being  the  projector  of  some  of  the  beautiful  plantations  at 
both  those  seats.  He  retired  from  Long-leat  at  the  age 
of  seventy-eight,  and  died  about  three  years  after.  There 
was  a  third,  John,  whose  name  with  that  of  Alvory,  and  of 
the  father,  is  among  the  subscribers  to  our  poet's  first 
publication.  James,  who  was  twenty-two  years  younger 
than  Robert,  will  come  to  be  mentioned  hereafter ;  when 
he  was  taken  into  partnership.  How  he  passed  the  pre- 
ceding part  of  his  time  is  not  known.  Of  Robert,  nothing 
is  now  remembered  in  his  native  town,  but  a  traditional 
story,  that  he  was  put  apprentice  to  a  stocking-weaver  of 
that  place,  and  that,  being  almost  starved,  he  ran  away, 
and  was  hired  by  a  lady  as  her  footman  :  this  lady,  it  is 
added,  observing  that  he  employed  his  leisure  hours  in 
reading,  gave  him  every  encouragement;  and  soon  after 
he  wrote  an  entertainment,  which  was  shewn  to  Pope  and 
others.  Part  of  this  story  is  probable,  but  too  much  of  his 
history  is  crowded  into  it.  His  first  service  was  not  that 
of  a  lady,  nor  was  the  entertainment  (The  Toy-shop)  his 
first  production. 

Although  he  was  probably  not  in  many  stations  of  the 
menial  kind,  it  is  certain  that  he  was  once  footman  to 
Charles  Dartiquenave,  (or,  as  spelt  by  Swift,  Dartineuf,) 
esq.  paymaster  of  the  works,  and  the  Darty  who  is  noticed 
by  Pope, 

"  Each  mortal  has  his  pleasure  ;  none  deny, 
Scarsdala  his  bottle,  Darty  his  ham-pye." 

His  gluttony,    which    was  long    proverbial,    suggested  to 
lord  Lyttelton  to  introduce  him,  in  his  Dialogues  of  the 


168  D  O  D  S  L  E  Y. 

Pead,  holding  a  conversation  with  Apicius.  The  story  of 
the  Ham-pye,  Dr.  Wartoii  assures  us,  was  confirmed  by 
Dodsley,  who  knew  Dartineuf,  and,  as  he  candidly  owned, 
had  waited  on  him  at  dinner ;  or,  as  he  said  more  explicitly 
to  Dr.  Johnson,  "  v*as  his  footman."  He  served  after- 
xvards,  in  the  same  humble  station,  in  the  family  of  the  hon. 
Mrs.  Lowther,  where  his  conduct  procured  him  respect, 
and  his  abilities,  distinction.  Several  of  his  smaller  poems 
were  written  while  in  this  family,  and  being  shewn  to  his 
mistress  and  her  visitors,  he  was  encouraged  to  publish 
them  by  a  very  liberal  subscription,  including  about  two 
hundred  names  of  considerable  note.  His  volume  had  the 
very  appropriate  title  of  "  The  Muse  in  Livery ;  or,  The 
Footman's  Miscellany,"  a  thin  8vo,  published  in  1732. 
In  his  preface  he  alludes  very  feelingly  to  the  many  disad- 
vantages of  his  humble  condition  ;  and  in  an  emblematical 
frontispiece  is  a  figure  intended  to  represent  himself,  the 
right  foot  chained  to  despair,  the  right  hand  chained  by 
poverty  to  misery,  folly,  and  ignorance,  the  left  hand 
winged,  and  endeavouring  in  vaiu  to  reach  happiness,  virtue, 
and  knowledge. 

The  volume  contains  the  "  Epistle  to  Stephen  Duck  ;" 
"  Kitty,"  a  pastoral ;  "  The  Petition  ;"  "  Rome's  pardon," 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Devil  is  a  Dunce  ;"  "  Religion," 
a  simile  ;  "  The  Epithalamium,"  called  here,  an  Enter- 
tainment designed  for  the  Wedding  of  governor  Lowther 
and  miss  Pennington ;  and  the  "  Advice,"  which  were 
reprinted  in  his  volume  of  Trifles." 

His  next  attempt  was  more  successful  than  the  publica- 
tion or' his  poems,  and,  considering  the  disadvantages  of  a 
life  of  servitude,  more  extraordinary  ;  he  wrote  a  dramatic 
piece,  entitled  "  The  Toy-shop,"  the  style  of  which  dis- 
covers an  improvement  which  to  those  who  had  just  read 
"  The  Muse  in  Livery,"  must  have  appeared  wonderful. 
This  the  author  determined  to  submit  to  Pope  in  manu- 
script. He  tells  us  he  had  a  great  regard  for  that  poet,  be- 
fore he  had  the  honour  of  being  known  to  him,  and  "  it 
was  a  great  mortification  to  him  that  he  used  to  think  him- 
self too  inconsiderable  ever  to  merit  his  notice  or  esteem,,. 
However,  some  time  after  I  had  wrote  the  Toy-shop, 
hoping  there  was  something  in  it  which  might  recommend 
me  to  him  in  a  moral  capacity,  at  least,  though  not  in  a 
poetical  one,  I  sent  it  to  him,  and  desired  his  opinion  of 
it ;  expressing  some  doubt,  that  though  I  designed  it  for  the 


D  0  D  !S  L  £  Y.  169 

stage,  yet,  unless  its  novelty  would  recommend  it,  I  was 
afraid  it  would  not  bear  a  publi^  representation,  and  there- 
fore had  not  offered  it  to  the  actors." 

Pope's  answer  to  this  application  may  appear  in  this 
place  without  impropriety,  as  it  has  escaped  the  collectors 
of  his  letter-;,  and  exhibits  his  kindness  to  unprotected  ge- 
nius in  a  very  favourable  light. 

"  SIR,  Feb.  5,  1732-3. 

I  was  very  willing  to  read  your  piece,  and  do  freely  tell 
you,  I  like  it,  as  far  as  my  particular  judgment  goes. 
Whether  it  has  action  enough  to  please  the  stage,  I 
doubt ;  but  .the  morality  and  satire  ought  to  be  relished 
by  the  reader.  I  will  do  more  than  you  ask  me  ;  I  will 
recommend  it  to  Mr.  Rich.  If  he  can  join  it  to  any 
play,  with  suitable  representations,  to  make  it  an  en- 
tertainment, I  believe  he  will  give  you  a  benefit  night; 
and  I  sincerely  wish  it  may  be  turned  any  way  to  your  ad- 
vantage, or  that  I  could  show  you  my  friendship  in  any 
instance.  I  am,  &c." 

Pope  accordingly  recommended  it  to  Mr.  Rich,  and 
ever  after  bestowed  his  "  favour  and  acquaintance"  on  the 
author.  The  hint  of  this  excellent  satire,  for  it  scarcely 
deserves  the  name  of  drama,  was  taken  from  Randolph's 
"  M use's  Looking-glass."  It  was  acted  at  Covent-garden 
theatre  in  1735,  and  met  with  great  success;  but  was  yet 
more  popular,  when  printed,  being  indeed  much  better 
calculated  for  the  closet  than  the  stage.  There  is  an  ease 
and  elegance  in  the  style  which  raise  our  opinion  of  Dods- 
fey's  natural  talents  ;  and  so  many  circumstances  of  public 
and  private  absurdities  are  brought  together,  as  to  afford 
decisive  proof  that  he  had  a  mind  far  above  his  situation, 
and  that  with  habits  of  attentive  observation  of  life  and 
manners,  he  cherished  the  justest  moral  feelings.  Such 
was  his  situation,  however,  that  for  some  time  he  was  sup- 
posed to  be  only  the  nominal  author  of  the  "  Toy-shop  ;" 
but  when  he  asserted  his  claim,  he  became  more  noticed, 
and  the  theatre  more  easily  accessible  to  his  future  dra- 
matic attempts.  The  profits  of  his  volume  of  poems,  and 
the  Toy-shop,  enabled  him  to  set  up  in  business,  and 
with  much  judgment  he  chose  that  of  a  bookseller,  which 
liis  friends  might  promote,  and  which  might  afford  him 
leisure  and  opportunity  to  cultivate  his  talents.  At  what 
time  he  quitted  service  is  not  known,  but  he  commenced 
the  bookselling  trade  at  a  shop  in  Pall  Mall,  in  1735,  and 


170  D  O  D  S  L  E  Y. 

by  Pope's  friendly  interest,  and  his  own  humble  and  pru- 
dent behaviour,  soon  drew  into  his  little  premises  such  a 
society  of  men  of  genius,  taste,  and  rank,  as  have  seldom 
met.  Many  of  these  he  afterwards  had  the  honour  to 
unite  together  in  more  than  one  scheme  of  literary  part- 
nership. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  success  of  his  first  dramatic  piece 
encouraged  him  to  attempt  another  better  adapted  to  stage 
rules.  This  was  his  farce  of  "  The  King  and  the  Miller  of 
Mansfield,"  the  plot  of  which  is  founded  on  a  traditional 
story  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  It  was  performed  in 
1736-7,  and  with  applause  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the 
"  Toy-shop."  In  1737-8,  he  produced  "  Sir  John  Cockle 
at  Court,"  intended  as  a  sequel  to  the  King  and  the  Miller, 
but  it  had  the  usual  fate  of  sequels,  to  suffer  by  compari- 
son. His  next  dramatic  performance  was  "  The  Blind 
Beggar  of  Bethnal-green,"  a  ballad  farce,  acted  in  1741, 
but  with  little  success.  The  songs,  however,  are  not  un- 
favourable specimens  of  lyric  simplicity. 

Almost  from  the  commencement  of  trade,  Dodsley  be- 
came a  speculator  in  various  literary  undertakings,  either 
original  or  compiled.  So  rapid  was  his  success,  that  be- 
fore he  had  been  three  years  in  business,  he  became  a 
purchaser  of  copyrights  ;  and  it  is  among  the  most  striking 
of  those  occurrences  which  diversify  the  lives  of  men  of 
literary  eminence,  that,  in  1738,  the  truly  illustrious  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson  was  glad  to  sell  his  first  original  publica- 
tion to  humble  Robert  Dodsley,  for  the  small  sum  of  ten 
guineas.  We  find  by  Mr.  Boswell's  very  interesting  ac- 
count of  this  transaction,  that  Dodsley  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover the  merits  of  Johnson's  "  London,"  and  was  desirous 
to  purchase  an  article  of  which  as  a  tradesman  he  had  not 
miscalculated  the  value.  But  before  this  time  Dodsley's 
shop  must  have  been  in  considerable  reputation,  as  in 
April  1737  he  published  Pope's  "  Second  Epistle  of  the 
Second  Book  of  Horace,"  and  in  the  following  month 
Pope  assigned  over  to  him  the  sole  property  of  his  "  Let- 
ters," and  afterwards  that  of  vols.  V.  and  VI.  of  his  Works, 
and  some  of  his  detached  pieces.  Not  long  after,  Young  and 
Akenside  published  their  works  at  his  shop,  and  as  early  as 
March  1738-9,  he  became  a  partner  with  some  of  his 
brethren  in  the  copyright  of  established  authors*. 

*  About  this  time  he  had  the  mis-  house  of  lords  by  publishing  Paul 
fartuae  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  the  Whitehead's  satire  entitled  "  MSmiei  a." 


DODSLEY.  171 

The  first  of  his  literary  schemes  was  a  periodical  journal, 
which  appears  to  have  escaped  the  researches  of  his  bio- 
graphers,   entitled     "  The   Public   Register,    or  Weekly 
Magazine,"  begun  Jan.  3,    1741,  each  number  of  which 
consisted  of  sixteen  4to  pages,  handsomely  printed,  and 
was  sold  for  three-pence.     Although   Dodsley  appears   to 
have  lived  on   friendly  terms  with  Cave,  the  printer,  who 
referred  Johnson  to  him  as  a  lit  publisher  of  the   "  Lon- 
don," yet  this  Register  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  many 
attempts  made  at  that  time   to  rival    me  uncommon   and 
much  envied  success  of  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  and 
like  them  was  soon  obliged  to  yield  to  the  superior  popu- 
larity of  that  valuable    miscellany.      Dodsley  and    Cave 
abused  one  another  a  little,  as  rival  projectors,  but  were 
probably  reconciled  when  the  cause  was  removed.     The 
contents  of  Dodsley's   "  Public   Register"   were   original 
letters  and  essays  in  prose  and  verse  ;  records  of  literature; 
the  substance  of  the  parliamentary  debates,  with  news  fo- 
reign and  domestic,  and  advertisements  relating  to  books. 
The  original   essays  were  contributed  by  his  mends,  and 
many  of  them  probably  by  himself.     It  proceeded  as  far 
as   the   twenty-fourth    number,    when  the  editor   thought 
proper  to  stop.     He   urges  in  his  farewell  address,  "  the 
additional  expense  he  was  at  in  stamping   it,  and  the  un- 
generous usage  he  met  with  from  one  ot  the  proprietors  of 
u  certain  monthly  pamphlet,  who  prevailed  with  most  of  the 
common  newspapers   not  to   advertise  it."      In    1745,   he 
wrote  a  little  poetical  piece  called  "  Rex  et  Pontifcx," 
which  he  meant  as  an  attempt  to  introduce  a  new  species 
of  ^pantomime  upon  the  stage.     It  was  not,  however,  re- 
ceived by  any  of  the  theatres,    and  probably  was  con- 
sidered only  as  a  political  effusion  for  a  temporary  purpose. 
In  1746,  he  projected  another  periodical  work,  entitled 
"  The  Museum,  or  the  Literary  and  Historical  Register," 
published  every  fortnight,  in  an   8vo  size.     Of  this  con- 
cern he  had  only  a  fourth  share,  the   rest  being  the   pro- 
perty of  Mess.  Longman,   Shewell,   Hitch,  and  Rivington. 
It  extended  to  three  volumes,  and  contains  a  greater  va- 

Bt-n  Victor  was   partly  the  means  of  with  so  much  effect,  that  Dodsley  was 

pavjug  him  from  the  worst  consequences  discharged  on  paying  his  fees,  which 

of  this  affair,  by  requesting   the  earl  came  "  to  seventy  odd  pounds;  a  to- 

of  Essex  (one  of  those  libelled  in  the  lerable  sum,"  Victor  adds,  "  tor  one 

poem)  to  present  an  humble   petition  week's  scurvy  lodging  in  the  Butcher- 

Dodsley,  whicb  his  lordship  did  row."     Victor's  Letters,  vol.  I. 


172  D  O  D  S  L  E  Y. 

riety  of  original  essays  of  real  merit  than  any  similar  un- 
dertaking within  our  memory,  nor  will  this  be  doubted, 
when  it  is  added  that  among  the  contributors  were  Spence, 
Horace  Walpole,  the  two  Wartons,  Akenside,  Lowth, 
Smart,  Gilbert  Cooper,  William  Whitehead,  Merrick,  and 
Campbell.  This  last  wrote  those  political  papers  which  he 
afterwards  collected,  enlarged,  and  published  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Present  State  of  Europe." 

In  1748  our  author  published  a  work  of  yet  greater  po- 
pularity and  acknowledged  value  in  the  instruction  of  youth, 
feis  "  Preceptor,"  to  which  some  of  the  parties  just  men- 
tioned contributed.     Dr.  Johnson  furnished   the  Preface, 
and  "  The  Vision  of  Theodore  the  Hermit."     In  the  be» 
ginning  of  the  following  year,  Dodsley  purchased  John- 
son's "  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,"  for  the  small  sum   of 
fifteen  guineas,  but  Johnson  reserved  the  right  of  printing 
one  edition.     It  is  a  better  proof  of  Dodsley's  enterprising 
Spirit  that  he  was  the  first  who  suggested  the  scheme  of 
the  English  Dictionary,  upon  which  Dr.  Johnson  was  at 
this  time  employed  ;  and  is  supposed  to  have  procured 
some  hints  from  Pope,  among  whose  friends  a  scheme  of 
this  kind  had  been  long  entertained.     Pope,  however,  did 
not  live  to  see  the  excellent  Prospectus  which  Johnson 
published  in  1747.     In  1748,  Dodsley  collected  together 
in  one  volume  his  dramatic  pieces,  under  the  modest  title 
of  "  Trifles."     On  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  wrote 
the   "  Triumph  of  Peace,"  a  masque,  which  was  set  to 
music   by  Dr.  Arne,    and    performed    at    Drury-lane  in 
1748-9.     In    1750   he   published  a  small  volume,    unlike 
any  of  his  former  attempts,  entitled  "  The  CEconomy  of 
Human  Life,  translated  from  an  Indian  manuscript,  writ- 
ten  by  an  ancient  Bramin ;  to  which  is  prefixed,  an  ac- 
count of  the  manner  in  which  the  said   manuscript  was 
discovered.     In  a  letter  from  an  English  Gentleman,  now 
residing  in  China,  to  the  earl  of*****."     Whether  from 
modesty,  fear,  or  merely  a  trick  of  trade,  Dodsley  affected 
to  be  only  the  publisher  of  this  work,  and  persisted  in  his  dis- 
guise for  some  time.     Conjecture  gave  it  to  the  earl  of 
Chesterfield,    and   not   quite  so  absurdly  as  Mrs.  Teresa 
Constantia  Phillips  complimented  that  nobleman  on  being 
author  of  the  "  Whole  Duty  of  Man."     Chesterfield  had 
a  friendship  for  Dodsley,  and  would  not  contradict  a  report 
which  rendered  the  sale  of  the  "  OEconomy"  both  rapid. 


D  O  D  S  L  E  Y.  173 

and  extensive.  The  critics,  however,  in  the  Monthly 
Keview,  and  Gentleman's  Magazine,  were  not  to  be  de- 
ceived. 

It  would  be  unnecessary  to  say  much  on  the  merit  of  a 
piece  which  is  so  well  known.  During  its  early  popularity, 
it  occasioned  many  imitations,  the  principal  of  which  were, 
"The  Second  part  of  the  QEconomy  of  Human  Life;" 
"  The  CEconomy  of  Female  Life ;"  "  The  (Economy  of 
the  Sexes  ;"  and  "  The  GEconomy  of  a  Winter's  Day,"  an 
humourous  burlesque.  Dodsley's  "  CEconomy,"  however, 
outlived  these  temporary  efforts,  and  continued  to  be 
praised  and  read  as  the  production  of  lord  Chesterfield. 
The  real  author,  although  he  might  secretly  appropriate 
this  praise  to  himself,  was  perhaps  not  very  well  pleased  to 
find  that  he  seldom  was  suspected  to  have  deserved  it. 
His  next  production  appears  to  have  occupied  bis  thoughts 
and  leisure  hours  for  a  considerable  time.  This  was  a 
poem,  intended  to  be  comprized  in  three  books,  treating 
of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  arts.  Of  these,  by  way  of 
experiment,  he  published  the  first,  under  the  general  titld 
of  "  Public  Virtue,"  in  1754;  but  it  did  not  meet  with 
such  encouragement  as  to  induce  him  to  complete  his  de- 
sign. It  is  written  in  blank  verse,  to  which  his  ear  was 
not  very  well  attuned  ;  but  with  many  imperfections,  this 
poem  has  likewise  many  beauties.  He  appears  to  have 
contemplated  rural  scenery  with  the  eye  of  a  poet.  In  the 
didactic  part,  he  fails  as  others  have  failed  before  him,  who 
wished  to  convey  mechanical  instruction  with  solemn  pomp, 
and  would  invoke  the  heroic  muse  to  tell  what  an  unlettered 
farmer  knows  better.  To  console  himself  for  the  cool  re- 
ception of  this  work,  he  told  Dr.  Johnson  that  "  Public 
Virtue  was  not  a  subject  to  interest  the  age." 

About  this  time,  he  established,  in  conjunction  with 
Moore,  a  periodical  paper,  entitled  "  The  World,"  a  name 
which  Dodsley  is  allowed  to  have  suggested  after  the  other 
partners  had  perplexed  themselves  in  vain  for  a  proper  one. 
Lord  Lyttelton,  although  no  contributor  himself,  used  his 
influence  with  his  friends  for  that  purpose,  and  Dodsley 
procured  papers  from  many  of  his  friends  and  customers. 
One  paper  only,  No.  32,  is  acknowledged  to  come  from 
his  own  pen.  By  undertaking  to  pay  Moore  a  stipulated 
sum  for  each  paper,  whether  contributed  by  that  writer, 
or  sent  by  volunteers,  J)odsley  secured  to  himself  the 
copyright,  and  was  amply  repaid  not  only  by  its  sale  in. 


171  D  O  D  S  L  E  Y. 

single  numbers,  but  by  the  many  editions  printed  in  vo- 
lumes. When  it  was  concluded  in  1756,  he  obtained  per- 
mission of  the  principal  writers  to  insert  their  names,  which 
gave  it  an  additional  interest  with  the  public.  A  few  chose, 
at  that  time-,  to  remain  concealed,  who  have  since  been 
discovered,  and  some  are  yet  unknown.  Chesterfield  and 
Horace  Walpole  were  known  at  the  time  of  pu  ihcation. 

In  1758,  Dodsiey  wrote  "Melpomene,  or  the  Regions 
of  Terror  and  Pity,"  an  ode,  but  concealed  his  being  the 
author,  and  employed  Mrs.  Cooper  as  his  publisher.  The 
consequence  was  that  this  ode,  in  which  it  is  universally 
acknowledged  that  there  are  many  sublime  passages,  was 
attributed  to  some  promising  young  man,  whom  years  and 
cultivation  would  lead  to  a  high  rank  among  poets.  Mary 
Cooper,  who  was  also  the  publisher  of  the  World,  lived 
in  Paternoster- row,  and  appears  to  have  been  frequently 
employed  in  this  capacity  by  Dodsiey  and  others,  when 
they  did  not  choose  that  their  names  should  appear  to  the 
first  edition  of  any  work. 

In  the  same  yen-,  Dodsiey  produced  his  tragedy  of 
"  Cleone,"  at  Covent-garden  theatre.  This  is  said  to  have 
been  rejected  by  Garrick  with  some  degree  of  contempt, 
principally  because  there  was  not  a  character  in  it  adapted 
to  the  display  of  his  talents ;  and  when  it  was  performed 
for  the  first  time  at  the  rival  theatre,  he  endeavoured  to 
diminish  its  attraction  by  appearing  the  same  night  in  a 
new  character  at  Drury-lane.  The  efforts  of  jealousy  are 
sometimes  so  ridiculous,  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  be  be- 
lieved that  they  are  seriously  intended.  But  notwith- 
standing this  malicious  opposition,  Cleone  was  played  with 
great  success  for  numv  nights,  although  the  company  at 
Covent- garden,  with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Bellamy,  were 
in  no  reputation  as  tragedians.  How  powerfully  the  author 
has  contrived  to  excite  the  passions  of  terror  and  pity,  was 
lately  seen,  when  this  tragedy  was  revived  by  Mrs.  Siddons. 
Its  effect  was  so  painful,  and  indignation  at  the  villainy  of 
Glanville  and  Ragozin  approached  so  near  to  abhorrence, 
that  the  play  could  not  be  endured.  There  are,  indeed, 
in  this  piece,  many  highly-wrought  scenes,  and  the  mad- 
ness of  Cleone  deserves  to  rank  ^mong  the  most  pathetic 
attempts  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  ruins  of  an  amiable  and 
innocent  mind.  For  Garrick's  opinion  we  can  have  little 
respect,  and  perhaps  he  was  not  sincere  in  Diving  it.  The 
prologue  to  Cleone  was  written  by  MehnoUi,  and  the  epi- 


D  O  D  S  L  E  Y.  175 

logue  by  Shenstone.  Dodsley  omitted  about  thirty  lines 
of  the  latter,  and  substituted  twelve  or  fourteen  of  his  own, 
but  restored  the  epilogue  as  originally  written,  in  the 
fourth  edition,  at  which  it  arrived  in  less  than  a  year. 
Such  was  the  avidity  of  the  public,  occasioned  probably  in 
a  great  measure  by  the  opposition  given  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  play,  that  two  thousand  copies  were  sold  on 
the  first  day  of  publication.  Pope,  when  very  young,  had 
attempted  a  tragedy  on  the  same  subject,  which  he  after- 
wards burnt,  as  he  informed  Dodsley,  when  the  latter  sent 
him  his  Cleone,  in  its  first  state,  requesting  his  advice. 
Pope  encouraged  him  to  bring  it  out,  but  wished  he  would 
extend  the  plan  to  the  accustomed  number  of  five  acts. 
Dodsley  acted  with  suriicient  caution  in  keeping  his  piece 
rather  more  than  "  ni:ie  years,"  and  then  submitted  it  to 
lord  Chesterfield  and  other  friends,  who  encouraged  him  to 
offer  it  to  the  sta^e,  and  supported  it  when  produced. 
Dr.  Johnson  was  likewise  among  those  who  praised  its 
pathetic  effect,  and  declared  that  "  if  Otway  had  written 
it,  no  other  of  his  pieces  would  have  been  remembered." 
Dodsley,  to  whom  this  was  told,  said  very  justly,  that  "it 
was  too  much." 

This  was  an  important  year  (176S)  to  our  author  in  an- 
other respect.  He  now  published  the  first  volume  of  the 
*'  Annual  Register,"  projected  in  concert  with  the  illus- 
trious Edmund  Burke,  who  is  supposed  to  have  contributed 
very  liberally  to  its  success.  This  work  was  in  all  its  de- 
partments so  ably  conducted,  that  although  he  printed  a 
large  impression,  he  and  his  successor  were  frequently 
obliged  to  reprint  the  early  volumes.  Its  value  as  an  use- 
ful and  convenient  record  of  public  affairs  was  so  univer- 
sally felt,  that  every  inquirer  into  the  history  of  his  country 
must  wish  it  had  been  begun  sooner.  Dodsley,  however, 
did  not  live  to  enjoy  its  highest  state  of  popularity  ;  but 
some  years  after  his  death  it  became  irregular  in  i,ts  times 
of  publication,  and  the  general  disappointment  which  such 
neglect  occasioned,  gave  rise,  in  17  HO,  to  another  work  of 
the  same  kind,  under  the  name  of  the  New  Annual  Regis- 
ter. This  for  many  years  was  a  powerful  rival,  until  the 
•unhappy  sera  of  the  French  revolution,  when  the  principles 
adopted  in  the  New  Register  gave  disgust  to  those  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  the  Old,  and  the  mind,  if  not  the 
hand  of  Burke  appearing  again  in  the  latter,  it  resumed 
and  still  maintains  its  former  reputation,  under  the  manage- 


176  DODSLEY. 

merit  of  Messrs.  Rivington,  who  succeeded  the  late  James 
Dodsley  in  the  property. 

In  1760,  our  author  published  his  "  Select  Fables  of  Esop 
and  other  Fabulists,"  in  three  books,  which  added  very 
considerably  to  his  reputation,  although  he  was  more  in- 
debted than  has  been  generally  supposed  to  his  learned 
customers,  many  of  whom  seem  to  have  taken  a  pleasure 
in  promoting  all  his  schemes.  The  Essay  on  Fable,  pre- 
fixed to  this  collection,  is  ascribed  to  Dodsley  by  the  author 
of  his  life  in  the  Biographia.  Dodsley  probably  drew  the 
outline  of  the  essay,  but  Shenstone  produced  it  in  the  shape 
we  now  find  it. 

When,  after  selling  two  thousand  copies  of  this  excel- 
lent collection,  within  a  few  months,  Dodsiey  was  pre- 
paring a  new  edition,  Shenstone  informs  us  that  Mr.  Spence 
offered  to  write  the  life  afresh ;  and  Spence,  Burke,  Lowth, 
and  Melmoth,  advised  him  to  discard  Italics. — Such  parti- 
culars may  appear  so  uninteresting  as  to  require  an  apo- 
logy, but  they  add  something  to  the  history  of  books,  which, 
is  a  study  of  importance  as  well  as  of  pleasure,  and  they 
show  the  very  high  respect  in  which  our  author  was  held. 
Here  we  have  Shenstone,  Spence,  Burke,  Lowth,  and  Mel- 
moth  clubbing  their  opinions  to  promote  his  interest,  by 
improving  the  merit  of  a  work,  which,  however  unjustly, 
many  persons  of  their  established  character  would  have 
thought  beneath  their  notice*. 

On  the  death  of  Shenstone,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1763,  Dodsley  endeavoured  to  repay  the  debt  of 
gratitude,  by  publishing  a  very  beautiful  edition  of  the 
works  of  that  poet,  to  which  he  prefixed  a  short  account 
of  his  life  and  writings,  a  character  written  with  much 
affection,  a  description  of  the  Leasowes,  £c.  He  had  now 
retired  from  the  active  part  of  his  business,  having  realized 
a  considerable  fortune,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
James,  whom  he  had  previously  admitted  into  partnership, 

*  Among  other  of  Dodsley's  publi-  in  6  vols.  Svo,  the  last  edition  of  which 
cations,  may  be  enumerated  his  "  Fu-  was  edited  by  Mr.  Isaac  Reeu  in  17S'2, 
gitive  Pieces,"  in  two  volumes,  writ-  with  biographical  notes  ;  and  his  col- 
ten  by  Speuce,  lord  Whitworth,  Burke,  lection  of"  Oltl  Plays,"  a  second  edi- 
Clubbe,  Hay,  Cooper,  Hill,  and  others  ;  tion  of  which  was  published  in  17SO  by 
•'  London  ami  its  Environs,"  6  vols.  the  same  editor.  During-  the  publica- 
8vo,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  Ho-  tion  of  his  Poems  in  separate  volumes 
race  Walpole,  who  procured  the  lists  he  solicited  and  obtained  original 
of  paintings  j  "England  Illustrated,"  pieces  from  most  of  bis  literary  friends. 
2  vols.  4to.  His  collection  of  "  Poems,"  See  Hull's  Select  Letters,  />«wi/A. 


D  O  D  S  L  E  Y.  .  177 

and  who  continued  the  business  until  hi's  death  in  1797, 
but  without  his  brother's  spirit  or  intelligence. 

During  the  latter  years  of  our  author's  life,  he  was  much 
afflicted  with  the  gout,  and  at  length  fell  a  martyr  to  it, 
while  upon  a  visit  to  his  learned  and  useful  friend  the  rev. 
Joseph  Spence  at  Durham.  This  event  happened  Sep- 
tember 25,  1764,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  interred  in  the  abbey  church-yard  of  that  city^  with  a 
homely  tribute  to  his  memory  on  his  tomb-stone. 

In  1772,  a  second  volume  of  his  works  was  published, 
under  the  title  of  "  Miscellanies,"  viz.  Cleone,  Melpo- 
mene, Agriculture,  and  the  CEconomy  of  Human  Life. 
Two  of  his  prose  pieces,  yet  unnoticed,  were  inserted  in 
the  later  editions  of  his  first  volume  ;  the  "  Chronicle  of 
the  Kings  of  England,"  in  imitation  of  the  language  of 
Scripture,  and  an  ironical  Sermon,  in  which  the  right  of 
mankind  to  do  what  they  will  is  asserted.  Neither  of  these 
has  contributed  much  to  his  reputation. 

After  the  incidental  notices  taken  of  his  different  writings 
in  this  sketch  of  his  life,  little  remains  to  be  added  as  to 
their  general  character.  As  a  poet,  if  poets  are  classed  by 
rigorous  examination,  he  will  not  be  able  to  maintain  a 
very  elevated  rank.  His  "  Agriculture"  was  probably  in- 
tended as  the  concentration  of  his  powers,  but  the  subject 
had  not  been  for  many  years  of  town-life  very  familiar  to 
him,  and  had  he  been  more  conversant  in  rural  ceconomy, 
he  could  not  give  dignity  to  terms  and  precepts  which  are 
neither  intelligible  nor  just  when  translated  from  the 
homely  language  of  the  farm  and  the  cottage.  Commerce 
and  the  Arts,  had  he  pursued  his  plan,  were  more  capable 
of  poetical  illustration,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they 
were  not  as  much  above  his  powers,  as  the  other  is  beneath 
the  flights  of  the  heroic  muse.  The  "  Art  of  Preaching'* 
shows  that  he  had  not  studied  Pope's  versification  in  vain. 
It  is  not,  however,  so  strictly  an  imitation  of  Horace's  Art 
of  Poetry,  which  probably  he  could  not  read,  as  of  Pope's 
manner  of  modernizing  satire.  It  teaches  no  art,  but  that 
which  is  despicable,  the  art  of  casting  unmerited  obloquy 
on  the  clergy. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  general  merit  of  his  productions, 
and  the  connexions  he  formed  with  many  of  the  most  emi- 
nent literary  characters  of  his  time,  have  given  a  consider- 
able popularity  to  the  name  of  Dodsley  ;  and  his  personal 
character  was  excellent.  Although  flattered  for  his  early 

VOL.  XII.  N 


178  D  O  V  S  L  E  Y. 

productions,  and  in  a  situation  where  flattery  is  most  dan- 
gerous, he  did  not  yield  to  the  suggestions  of  vanity,  nor 
considered  his  patrons  as  bound  to  raise  him  to  independ- 
ence, or  as  deserving  to  be  insulted,  if  they  refused  to 
arrogant  indolence  what  they  willingly  granted  to  honest 
industry.  With  the  fair  profits  of  his  first  pieces,  he  en- 
tered into  business,  and  while  he  sought  only  such  encou- 
ragement as  his  assiduity  might  merit,  he  endeavoured  to 
cultivate  his  mind  by  useful,  if  not  profound  erudition. 
His  whole  life,  indeed,  affords  an  important  lesson.  With- 
out exemption  from  some  of  the  more  harmless  artifices  of 
trade,  he  preserved  the  strictest  integrity  in  all  his  deal- 
ings, both  with  his  brethren,  and  with  such  authors  as  con- 
fided to  him  the  publication  of  their  works  ;  and  he  became 
a  very  considerable  partner  in  those  large  undertakings 
which  have  done  so  much  credit  to  the  booksellers  of 
London. 

In  his  more  private  character,  Dodsley  was  a  pleasing 
and  intelligent  companion.  Few  men  had  lived  on  more 
easy  terms  with  authors  of  high  rank,  as  well  as  genius  ; 
and  his  conversation  abounded  in  that  species  of  informa- 
tion which,  unfortunately  for  biographers,  is  generally  lost 
with  those  by  whom  it  has  been  communicated.  By  his 
letters,  some  of  which  we  have  seen,  he  appears  to  have 
written  with  ease  and  familiar  pleasantry,  and  the  general 
style  of  his  writings  affords  no  reason  to  remember  that  he 
was  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  educatios.  So  much 
may  application,  even  with  limited  powers,  effect,  while 
those  who  trust  to  inspiration  only,  too  frequently  are  con- 
tent to  excite  wonder,  and  dispense  with  industry,  mis-, 
taking  the  bounty-money  of  fame  for  its  regular  pay. l 

DODSON  (MICHAEL),  an  English  barrister,  was  the 
son  of  the  Rev.  John  Dodson,  M.  A.  a  dissenting  minister 
of  Marlborough,  in  Wiltshire,  and  of  Elizabeth,  one  of 
the  daughters  of  Mr.  Foster,  an  attorney-at-law  of  the 
same  place.  He  was  born  at  Marlborough  on  the  20th  or 
21st  Sept.  1732,  and  educated  partly  under  the  care  of  his 
father,  and  partly  at  the  grammar-school  of  that  town  ;  and 
under  the  direction  of  his  maternal  uncle,  sir  Michael 
Foster,  he  was  brought  up  to  the  profession  of  the  law. 
After  being  admitted  of  the  Middle  Temple,  London,  Au- 
gust 31,  1754,  he  practised  many  years  with  considerable 

« 
t  Johnson  and  Chalmers's  English  Poets,  1810. — Biog.  Brit. 


D  O  D  S  O  N.  179 

reputation,  as  a  special  pleader.     His  natural  modesty  and 
cliffiJence  discouraged  him  from  attending  the  courts,  and 
therefore  he  did   not  proceed  to  be  called  to  the  bar  till 
July  4,  1783.     This  measure  contributed,  as  was  intended, 
more  to  the  diminution  than  to  the  increase  of  professional 
business.      He  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  of 
bankrupts  in  1770,  during  the  chancellorship  of  lord  Cam- 
den,   and   was   continued   in   that  situation  till  the  time  of 
his  death.     On   December  31,   1778,  Mr.  Dodson  married 
miss   Elizabeth    Hawkes,    his  cousin-german,   and    eldest 
daughter  of  Mr.  Hawkes,  of  Marlborough.     He  enjoyed  a 
life  of  uninterrupted  good  health,  and  indeed  little  altera- 
tion was  observeable  in   his  strength  or  general  habits  till 
nearly  the  last  year  of  his  life.     It   was  not  till   the  month 
of  October  1799,  that  he  began  more  sensibly  to  feel  the 
effect  of  disease;  and,   after  a  confinement  to  his  room  of 
about  a  fortnight,  he  died  of  a  dropsy  in  his  chest,  at  his 
house  in  Boswell-court,  Carey-street,  London,  on  the  13th 
of  November  of  that  year ;  and  was  buried  in  Bunhill- 
fields  the   21st  of  the  same  month.     Mr.  Dodson's  legal 
knowledge  and  discrimination  were  deservedly  estimated 
by  those  to  whom  he  was  known,  and  who  had  occasion  to 
confer  with  him  upon  questions  of  law.     He  was  deliberate 
in  forming  his  opinion,   and  diffident  in  delivering  it,  but 
always  clear  in  the  principles  and  reasons  on   which  it  was 
founded.     His  general  acquaintance  with  the  laws,  and 
veneration  for  the  constitution  of  his  country,  evinced  his 
extensive   acquaintance    with    the    principles  of  jurispru- 
dence, and  his   regard  for  the  permanence  of  the  liberties 
of  Britain.     In    1762,  Mr.   Justice   Foster   published   his 
book,  entitled,    "  A  Report  of  some  proceedings  on  the 
commission  for  the  trial  of  the  Rebels  in  the  year  1746,  in 
the  county  of  Surrey  ;  and  of  other  crown  cases  ;  to  which 
are  added,  Discourses  upon  a  few  branches  of  the  Crown 
Law."     This  work  will  be  to  him,  said  Mr.  Dodson,  "  mo- 
numeutum  aere  perennius."     The  impression  being  large, 
and  a  pirated  edition  being  made  in  Ireland,  a  new  edition, 
was  not  soon  wanted  in  England  ;  but  in  1776  Mr.  Dodson 
published  a  second  edition  with  some  improvements,  and 
with  remarks  in  his  preface  on  some  objections  made  by 
Mr.  Barrington  in  his  "  Observations  on  the  more  ancient 
Statutes."     In    1792   he   published  a  third  edition,    with 
an  appendix,  containing  three  new  cases,  which  the  au- 
thor had  intended  to  insert  in  the  first  edition,  and  had 


180  D  O  D  S  O  N. 

caused  to  be  transcribed  for  that  purpose.  In  1795  Mr. 
Dobson  drew  up  a  life  of  his  truly  learned  and  venerable 
uncle  sir  Michael  Faster,  which  was  to  have  formed  a  part 
of  the  sixth  volume  of  the  new  edition  of  the  Biographia 
Britannica.  It  has  since  been  printed  separately  in  1811, 
Svo.  But  the  public  are  in  possession  of  more  ample 
documents  of  Mr.  Dodson's  deep  research  and  critical  judg- 
ment in  biblical  literature,  than  in  legal  disquisitions.  He 
had  very  attentively  and  dispassionately  examined  th« 
evidences  of  revelation,  and  was  firmly  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  its  pretensions.  He  was  zealous  for  the  true  and 
rational  interpretation  of  its  scriptures,  because  he  was 
strongly  persuaded  of  the  great  influence  such  interpreta- 
tion would  have  on  its  reception  in  the  world,  and  on  the 
consequent  happiness  of  mankind.  But  having  a  turn  for 
biblical  criticism,  and  having  embraced  the  principles  of 
the  Unitarians,  he  published  many  papers  in  a  work  en- 
titled "  Commentaries  and  Essays,"  written  by  the  mem- 
bers of  a  small  "  Society  for  promoting  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures."  Mr.  Dodson  was  a  very  early  member  of 
this  society,  not  only  communicating  some  papers  of  his 
own,  but  conducting  through  the  press  some  of  the  contri- 
butions of  others.  In  1790  he  laid  before  the  public,  as 
the  result  of  many  years'  study,  "  New  translation  of  Isaiah, 
with  notes  supplementary  to  those  of  Dr.  Lowth,  late 
bishop  of  London,  and  containing  remarks  on  many  parts 
of  his  Translation  and  Notes,  by  a  Layman."  In  this  he 
has  taken  more  freedoms  than  can  be  justified  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  sound  criticism  ;  which  drew  forth  an  able  answer 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Sturges,  in  "  Short  remarks  on  a  new 
Translation  of  Isaiah,"  Svo.  To  this  Mr.  Dodson  replied, 
with  urbanity  and  candour,  in  "  A  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Sturges,  &c."  Svo,  179 1.1 

DODSWORTH  (ROGER),  an  eminent  antiquary,  the 
son  of  Matthew  Dodsworth,  registrar  of  York  cathedral, 
and  chancellor  to  archbishop  Matthews,  was  born  July 
24,  1585,  at  Newton  Grange,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Oswald, 
in  Rydale,  Yorkshire.  He  died  in  August  1654;  and  was 
buried  at  Rufrord,  Lancashire.  He  was  a  man  "  of  won- 
derful industry,  but  less  judgment ;  always  collecting  and 
transcribing,  but  never  published  any  thing."  Such  is 

»  Biographical  Memoir  privately  circulated  by  Dr.  Disney. — Preface  to  tbe 
frvo  edition  of  the  Life  of  sir  Michael  Foster. 


DODSWORTH,  181 

the  report  of  him  by  Wood  ;  who  in  the  first  part  of  it, 
Mr.  Gough  observes,  drew  his  own  character.    "  One  can- 
not approach  the  borders  of  this  county,"  adds  this  topo- 
grapher,  in  his  account  of  Yorkshire,   "  without    paying 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  that  indefatigable  collector  of  its 
antiquities,  Roger  Dodsworth,  who  undertook   and    exe- 
cuted a  work,  which,  to   the  antiquaries  of  the  present 
age,  would  have  been  the  stone  of  Tydides."     One  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  volumes  of  his  own    writing,  besides 
original   MSS.    which  he  had  obtained  from  several  hands, 
making    all   together   162   volumes    folio,  now   lodged    in 
the  Bodleian  library,  are  lasting  memorials  what  this  county 
owes    to    him,    as    the    two   volumes   of  the    Monasticon 
(which,  though  published  under  his  and  Dugdale's  names 
conjointly,  were  both  collected  and  written  totally  by  him) 
will  immortalize  that  extensive  industry  which  has  laid  the 
whole  kingdom  under  obligation.     The  patronage  of  ge- 
Beral  Fairfax  (whose  regard  to  our  antiquities,  which  the 
rage  of  his  party  was  so  bitter  against,  should  cover  his 
faults  from  the  eyes  of  antiquaries)  preserved  this  treasure, 
and  bequeathed  it  to  the  library  where  it  is  now  lodged. 
Fairfax  preserved  also  the  fine  windows  of  York  cathedral ; 
and  when  St.  Mary's  tower,  in  which  were  lodged  innu- 
merable records,  both  public  and  private,  relating  to  the 
northern   parts,   was  blown   up  during  the  siege  of  York, 
he  gave  money  to  the  soldiers  who  could  save  any  scattered 
papers,  many  of  which  are  now  at  Oxford  ;  though  Dods- 
worth  had  transcribed  and  abridged  the  greatest  part  be- 
fore.    Thomas  Tomson,  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  saved 
out  of  the  rubbish  such  as  were  legible  ;  which,  after  pass- 
ing through  several   hands,  became  the  property  of  Dr. 
John    Burton,  of  York,    being    1868,  in    thirty   bundles. 
Wallis  says   they  are  in  the  cathedral    library.     Fairfax 
allowed  Dodsworth  a  yearly  salary  to  preserve  the  inscrip- 
tions in  churches. 

Fairfax  died  in  1671 ;  his  nephew,  Henry  Fairfax,  dean 
of  Norwich,  gave  Roger  Doclsworth's  162  volumes  of  col- 
lections to  the  university  of  Oxford  ;  but  the  MSS.  were 
not  brought  thither  till  1673,  and  then  in  wet  weather, 
when  Wood  with  much  difficulty  obtained  leave  of  the 
vice-chancellor  to  have  them  brought  into  the  muniment- 
room  in  the  school-tower,  and  was  a  month  drying  them 
on  the  leads.  Many  transcripts  from  them  are  in  various 
collections,  particularly  the  British  museum,  where  are 


183  DODSWORTH. 

also  many  of  Dodsworth's  letters.  Hearne,  in  a  transport 
of  antiquarian  enthusiasm,  "  blesses  God  that  he  was 
pleased,  out  of  his  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  to  raise 
v»p  so  pious  and  diligent  a  person,  that  should,  by  his 
blessing,  so  effectually  discover  and  preserve  such  a  noble 
treasure  of  antiquities  as  is  contained  in  these  volumes  : 
most  of  them  written  with  his  own  hand,  and  the  genealo- 
gical tables,  and  the  notes  on  them,  done  with  that  exqui- 
site care  and  judgment,  that  I  cannot  but  think  otherwise 
of  this  eminent  person  than  the  author  of  the  '  Athenae 
Oxonienses.'  For  it  plainly  appears  to  me,  that  his 
judgment  and  sagacity  were  equal  to  his  diligence;  and  I 
see  no  reason  to  doubt,  but  that  if  he  had  lived  to  write 
the  Antiquities  of  Yorkshire  (as  he  once  designed),  it  would 
have  appeared  in  a  very  pleasing  and  entertaining  method, 
and  in  a  proper  and  elegant  style,  and  set  out  with  all  other 
becoming  advantages."  1 

DODWELL  (HENRY),  a  very  learned  writer,  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  St.  Warburgh  in  Dublin,  towards  the  latter 
end  of  October  1641,  and  baptized  November  4th.  His 
father,  who  was  in  the  army,  had  an  estate  at  Connaught, 
but  it  being  seized  by  the  Irish  rebels,  he  came,  with  his 
wife  and  child,  to  England  in  1648,  to  obtain  some  assist- 
ance among  their  relations.  After  some  stay  in  London, 
they  went  to  York,  and  placed  their  son  in  the  free-school 
of  that  city,  where  he  continued  five  years,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  extensive  learning.  His  father,  after 
having  settled  him  with  his  mother  at  York,  went  to  Ire- 
land, to  look  after  his  estate,  but  died  of  the  plague  at 
Waterford :  and  his  mother,  going  thither  for  the  same 
purpose,  fell  into  a  consumption,  of  which  she  died,  in 
her  brother  sir  Henry  Slingsby's  house.  Being  thus  de- 
prived of  his  parents,  Mr.  Doduell  was  reduced  to  such 
streights  that  he  had  not  money  enough  to  buy  pen,  ink, 
and  paper ;  and  suffered  very  much  for  want  of  his  board 
being  regularly  paid*.  Thus  he  continued  till  1654, 
when  his  uncle,  Mr.  Henry  Dodvvell,  rector  of  Newbourn 

*  In  this  more  liberal  age  it  will  iise  of  charcoal,  instead  of  pen  and 
Scarcely  be  credited  that  this  youth  ink,  which  he  had  not  money  to  pur- 
was  forced  to  use  such  pape<  as  yeung  chase;  and  then,  when  h^  came  to 
gentlewomen  had  covered  their  work  school,  to  borrow  pen  and  ink  of  his 
with,  and  thrown  away  as  no  longer  fit  school-fellows  to  tit  his  exercises  for 
for  their  use,  he  having  no  other  to  his  master's  sight. 
write  his  exercises  on ;  and  to  make 

i  Cough's  Topography,  vol.  1. — Archaeologia,  vol.  I. 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L. 

and  Hemley  in  Suffolk,  sent  for  him,  discharged  his  debts, 
and  assisted  him  in  his  studies.  With  him  he  remained 
about  a  year,  and  then  went  to  Dublin,  where  he  was  at 
school  for  a  year  longer.  In  1656  he  was  admitted  into 
Trinity-college  in  that  city,  of  which  he  was  successively 
chosen  scholar  and  fellow.  But  in  1666  he  quitted  his  fel- 
lowship, in  order  to  avoid  going  into  holy  orders,  for  by 
the  statutes  of  that  college,  the  fellows  are  obliged  to  take 
orders  when  they  are  masters  of  arts  of  three  years  stand- 
ing. The  learned  bishop  Jer.  Taylor  offered  to  use  his  in- 
terest to  procure  a  dispensation  of  the  statute,  but  Mr, 
Dodwell  refused  to  accept  of  it,  lest  it  should  be  construed 
into  a  precedent  injurious  afterwards  to  the  college.  The 
reasons  given  for  his  declining  the  ministerial  function 
were,  1.  The  great  weight  of  that  office,  and  the  severe 
account  which  the  ministers  of  Christ  have  to  give  to  their 
Lord  and  Master.  2.  His  natural  bashfulness,  and  humble 
opinion,  and  diffidence  of  himself;  though  he  was,  un- 
questionably, very  well  qualified  in  point  of  learning. 
3.  That  he  thought  he  could  do  more  service  to  religion, 
and  the  church,  by  his  writings,  whilst  he  continued  a  lay- 
man, than  if  he  took  orders;  for  then  the  usual  objections 
made  against  clergymen's  writings  on  those  subjects,  viz. 
"  That  they  plead  their  own  cause,  and  are  biassed  by 
self-interest,"  would  be  entirely  removed. 

Mr.  Dodwell  came  the  same  year  to  England,  and  re- 
sjded  at  Oxford  for  the  sake  of  the  public  library.  Thence 
he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  in  1672  published, 
at  Dublin,  in  8vo,  a  posthumous  treatise  of  his  late  learned 
tutor  John  Steam,  M.  D.  to  which  he  put  a  preface  of  his 
own.  He  entitled  this  book,  "  De  Obstinatione :  Opus 
posthumum  Pietatem  Chrisdano-Stoicam  scholastico  more 
suadens :"  and  his  own  preface,  "  prolegomena  Apologe- 
tica,  de  usu  Dogmatum  Philosophicorum,"  &c.  in  which 
he  apologizes  for  his  tutor ;  who,  by  quoting  so  often  and 
setting  a  high  value  upon  the  writings  and  maxims  of 
the  heathen  philosophers,  might  seem  to  depreciate  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Mr.  Dodwell  therefore  premises  first, 
that  the  author's  design  in  that  work  is  only  to  recommend 
moral  duties,  and  enforce  the  practice  of  them  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  ancient  philosophers  ;  and  that  he  does  not 
meddle  with  the  great  mysteries  of  Christianity,  which  are 
discoverable  only  by  divine  revelation.  His  second  work 
was,  "  Two  letters  of  advice.  1.  For  the  Susception  of 


184  D  O  D  W  E  L  L. 

Holy  Orders.  2.  For  Studies  Theological,  especially  such 
as  are  rational."  To  the  second  edition  of  which,  in 
1681,  was  added,  "  A  Discourse  concerning  the  Phoeni- 
cian History  of  Sanchoniathon,"  in  which  he  considers 
Philo-Byblius  as  the  author  of  that  history.  In  1673,  he 
wrote  a  preface,  without  his  name,  to  "  An  introduction 
to  a  Devout  Life,"  by  Francis  de  Sales,  the  last  bishop 
and  prince  of  Geneva  ;  which  was  published  at  Dublin,  in 
English,  this  same  year,  in  12mo.  He  came  over  again 
to  England  in  1674,  and  settled  in  London  ;  where  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  several  learned  men  ;  particularly, 
in  1675,  with  Dr.  William  Lloyd,  afterwards  successively 
bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Litchfield  and  Coventry,  and  Wor- 
cester *.  With  that  eminent  divine  he  contracted  so  great 
a  friendship  and  intimacy,  that  he  attended  him  to  Holland, 
xvhen  he  was  appointed  chaplain  to  the  princess  of  Orange. 
He  was  also  with  him  at  Salisbury,  when  he  kept  his  resi- 
dence there  as  canon  of  that  church  ;  and  spent  afterwards 
a  good  deal  of  time  with  him  at  St.  Asaph.  In  1675  he  pub- 
lished "  Some  Considerations  of  present  Concernment ; 
how  far  the  Romanists  may  be  trusted  by  princes  of  ano- 
ther persuasion,"  in  8vo,  levelled  against  the  persons  con- 
cerned in  the  Irish  remonstrance,  which  occasioned  a  kind 
of  schism  among  the  Irish  Roman  catholics.  The  year 
following  he  published  "  Two  short  Discourses  against  the 
Romanists.  1.  An  Account  of  the  fundamental  Principle 
of  Popery,  and  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  proofs  which 
they  have  for  it.  2.  An  Answer  to  six  Queries  proposed 
to  a  gentlewoman  of  the  Church  of  England,  by  an  emis- 
sary of  the  Church  of  Rome,"  12mo,  but  reprinted  in 
1688,  4to,  with  "  A  new  preface  relating  to  the  bishop  of 
Meaux,  and  other  modern  complainers  of  misrepresenta- 
tion." In  1679,  he  published,  in  4to,  <{  Separation  of 
Churches  from  episcopal  government,  as  practised  by  the 
present  non-conformists,  proved  schismatical,  from  such 
principles  as  are  least  controverted,  and  do  withal  most 
popularly  explain  the  sinfulness  and  mischief  of  schism." 
This,  being  animadverted  upon  by  R.  Baxter,  was  vindi- 
cated, in  1681,  by  Mr.  Dodwell,  in  "  A  Reply  to  Mr. 
Baxter's  pretended  confutation  of  a  book,  entitled.  Sepa- 

*  Mr.    Dodwell,   when    in    London,  concerning  matters  of  literature.    Many 

used  daily  to  frequent  a  coffee-bouse  of  his  countryim-n  resorted  to  the  same 

near  Temple-bar,  where  he  was  willing  coffee-house,  ;>u  i    regularly   saw  him 

to  answer  all  who  asked  his  opiuiou  home  every  night. 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L.  185 

fration  of  Churches,"  &c.  To  which  were  added,  "  Three 
Letters  to  Mr.  Baxter,  written  in  1673,  concerning  the 
Possibility  of  Discipline  under  a  Diocesan  Government,'* 
&c.  8vo.  In  1682  came  out  his  "  Dissertations  on  St.  Cy- 
prian," composed  at  the  reqviest  of  Dr.  Fell,  bishop  of  Ox- 
ford, when  he  was  about  to  publish  his  edition  of  that 
father.  They  were  printed  in  the  same  size,  but  reprinted 
at  Oxford  in  1684,  Svo,  under  the  title  "  Dissertationes 
Cyprianse."  The  eleventh  dissertation,  in  which  he  en- 
deavours to  lessen  the  number  of  the  early  Christian  mar- 
tyrs, brought  upon  him  the  censure  of  bishop  Burnet,  and 
not  altogether  unjustly.  The  year  following,  he  published 
"  A  Discovirse  concerning  the  One  Altar,  and  the  One 
Priesthood,  insisted  on  by  the  ancients  in  the  disputes 
against  Schism  *,"  Lond.  Svo.  In  1684,  a  dissertation  of 
his  on  a  passage  of  Lactantius,  was  inserted  in  the  new 
edition  of  that  author  at  Oxford,  by  Thomas  Spark,  in 
Svo.  His  treatise  "  Of  the  Priesthood  of  Laicks,"  ap- 
peared in  1686,  in  Svo.  The  title  was  "  De  jure  Laico- 
rum,"  &c.  It  was  written  in  answer  to  a  book  published 
by  William  Baxter,  the  antiquary,  and  entitled  "  Anti- 
Dodwellism,  being  two  curious  tracts  formerly  written  by 
H.  Grotius,  concerning  a  solution  of  the  question,  whether 
the  eucharist  may  be  administered  in  the  absence  of,  or 
want  of  pastors."  About  the  same  time  he  was  preparing 
for  the  press  the  posthumous  works  of  the  learned  Dr.  John 
Pearson,  bishop  of  Chester,  Lond.  1688,  4to.  He  pub- 
lished also,  ."  Dissertations  on  Irenseus,"  1689,  Svo.  On 
the  2d  of  April,  1688,  he  was  elected,  by  the  university 
of  Oxford,  Camden's  professor  of  history,  without  any  ap- 

*  Before  Mr.  JDodwell  committed  this  Dr.  Tillotson,  after  the  revolution,  had 

book  to  the  press,  he  brought  it  to  Dr.  consented  to  be  archbishop  of  Canter- 

Tillotson,    and    desired    his  judgment  bury,  before  he  was  consecrated  to  (he 

concerning  it.     The  doctor  freely  ex-  see,  Mr.  Dodwell  wrote  him  a  letter  to 

pressed  his  dislike  of  it;  and  told  the  dissuade  him  from  being  the  aggressor 

author,  that  though  his  work  was  writ-  in   the   new-designed   schism,    and    in 

ten  with  such  great  accuracy  and  close  erecting  another  altar  against  that  of 

dependence  of  one   proposition   upon  the   deprived    fathers    and    brethren, 

another,  as  that  it  seemed  to  be  little  "  If,"  says  he,   "  their  places   be  not 

less    thnn    demonstration,    "  so  that  vacant,  the  new  consecration  must,  by 

(added  Tillotson)  I  can  hardly  tell  you,  the  nature  of  the  spiritual  monarchy, 

where  it  is,  that  you  break  the  chain  ;  be  null,    invalid,    and    schismatical.1' 

yet  I  am  sure,  that  it  is  broken  some-  He   affirmed,  likewise,    that   such    as 

where:  for  such  and  such  particulars  were   concerned    in   this   practice,  cut 

are  so   palpably   false,  that  I  wonder  themselves  off  from  the  communion  of 

you  do  not  perceive  the  absurdity  of  which  they  were  before  members  ;  as 

them  ;  they  are  so  gross,  and  grate  so  did  all  others  who  joined  with  them. 
much  upon  the  inward  sense."     When 


186  D  O  D  W  E  L  L. 

plication  of  his  own,  and  when  he  was  at  a  great  distance 
from  Oxford  ;  and  the  21st  of  May  was  incorporated  mas- 
ter of  arts  in  that  university.     But  this  beneficial  and  cre- 
ditable employment  of  professor  he  did  not  enjoy  long  ; 
being  deprived  of  it  in  November,   1691,  for  refusing   to 
take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  king  William  and  queen 
Mary.     When  their  majesties  had  suspended  those  bishops 
who  would  not  acknowledge  their  authority,   Mr.  Dodwell 
published  "  A   cautionary    discourse    of  Schism,    with   a 
particular  regard  to  the  case  of  the  bishops,  who  are  sus- 
pended for  refusing  to  take  the  new  oath,"  London,  8vo. 
And  when  those  bishops  were  actually  deprived,  and  others 
put  in  their  sees,  he  joined  the  former,  looking  upon  the 
new    bishops,    and    their   adherents,    as   schismatics.     He 
wrote  likewise  "  A  Vindication  of  the  deprived  Bishops  :" 
and  "  A  Defence  of  the  same,"   1692,  4to,  being  an  an- 
swer to  Dr.  Hody's  "  Unreasonableness  of  Separation,"  &c. 
After  having  lost  his  professorship,  he  continued  for  some 
time  in  Oxford,  and  then  retired  to  Cookham,  a  village 
near  Maidenhead,  about  an  equal  distance  between  Ox- 
ford and  London ;  and  therefore  convenient  to  maintain  a 
correspondence  in  each  place,  and  to  consult  friends  and 
books,  as  he  should  have  occasion.     While  he  lived  there, 
he  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Francis  Cherry  of  Shottes- 
brooke,  a  person  of  great  learning  and  virtue,  for  the  sake 
of  whose  conversation  he  removed  to  Shottesbrooke,  where 
he  chiefly  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.     In  1692,  he 
published  his  Camdenian  lectures  read  at  Oxford  ;  and,  in 
1694,   "  An  Invitation  to  Gentlemen  to  acquaint  themselves 
with  ancient  History  ;"  being  a  preface  to  Degory  Whear's 
"  Method  of  reading  history,"  translated  into  English  by 
Mr.  Bohun.     About  this  time  having  lost  one  or  more  of 
the  Dodwells,    his   kinsmen,    whom   he  designed  for  his 
heirs,  he  married  on  the  24th  of  June,    1694,  in  the  52d 
year  ot  bis  age,  a  person,  in  whose  father's  house  at  Cook- 
ham  he  had  boarded  several  times,  and  by  her  had  ten 
children  *.     In  1696  he  drew  up  the  annals  of  Thucydides 

*  The  reason  of  his  marrying  late  in  Ware's  works,  was  as  follows:  be  had 
life  wa<-  the  offfr.ce  he  t  ok  ai  some  of  a  sood  estate  in  Ireland,  the  profits  of 
his  relatuni*,  who  di<1  not  pay  him  a  wlvch  he  gave  to  his  next  kinsman,  re- 
certain  pittance  which  h~  had  agieetl  sevv.n^  uu'y  ;\  Miiall  part  for  his  owa 
with  them  should  be  transmitted  to  snb-istenve.  But  upon  his  marriage 
him  jeat'v  out  of  ihe  f"itn -T  In-  po>-  he  took  t;ie  whole  to  himself ;  his  kins- 
sessed.  Tht-  tact,  as  Mated  by  Mr.  nian  having  raised  a  fair  fortune  out  of 
Harris,  iu  his  edition  of  sir  James  the  estate,  while  be  enjoyed  it* 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L.  137 

and  Xenophon,  to  accompany  the  editions  of  those  two 
authors  by  Dr.  John  Hudson  and  Mr.  Edward  Wells.     Hav- 
ing likewise  compiled  the   annals  of  Velleius  Paterculus, 
and  of  Quintilian,  and  Statius,  he  published  them  altoge- 
ther in  1698,  in  one  volume,  8vo.     About  the  same  time 
he  wrote  an  account  of  tUe  lesser  Geographers,  published 
by  Dr.   Hudson;  and   "A  Treatise  concerning  the   law- 
fulness of  instrumental  music  in  holy  offices  :"  occasioned  by 
an  organ  being  set  up  at  Tiverton  in  1696  :   with  some  other 
things  on  chronology,  inserted  in  "  Grabe's  Spicilegium." 
In  1701,  he  published  his  account  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
cycles,   which  was  the  most  elaborate  of  all  his  pieces,  and 
seems  to  have  been  the  work  of  the  greatest  part  of  his 
life.     The  same  year  was  published  a  letter  of  his,  inserted 
in   Richardson's  "  Canon   of  the    New  Testament,"   &c. 
concerning  Mr.  Toland's  disingenuous  treatment  of  him. 
The  year  following  appeared  "  A  Discourse  [of  his]  con- 
cerning the  obligation  to   marry  within  the  true  commu- 
nion, following  from   their  style  of  being  called  a  Holy 
Seed  ;"  and  "  An  Apology   for  the  philosophical  writings 
of  Cicero,"  against  the  objections  of  Mr.  Petit;  prefixed 
to  Tally's  five  books  De  Finibus,  or,  of  Moral  Ends,  trans- 
lated into  English  by   Samuel  Parker,  gent,   as   also  the 
annals  of  Thucydides  and  Xenophon,  Oxoa.  4to.     In  1703 
he  published  "  A  Letter  concerning  the  Immortality  of  the 
Soul,  against  Mr.  Henry  Layton's  Hypothesis,"   4to  ;  and, 
"  A  Letter  to  Dr.  Tillotson  about  Schism,"   8vo,  written 
in  1691.     .The  year  following  came  out,  his  "  Chronology 
of  DionX'Sius   Halicarnasseus,"    in   the   Oxford   edition   of 
that  historian  by  Dr.  Hudson,  folio  ;  his  "  Two  Disserta- 
tions on  the  age  of  Phalaris  and  Pythagoras,"  occasioned 
by  the  dispute  between  Bentley  and  Boyle  ;  and  his  "  Ad- 
monition  to   Foreigners,  concerning   the   late   Schism  in 
England."     This,  which  was   written   in   Latin,  regarded 
the  deprivation  of  the  nonjuring  bishops.     When  the  bill 
for  preventing   occasional    conformity   was    depending   in 
parliament,    he   wrote   a   treatise,    entitled,  "  Occasional 
Communion  fundamentally  destructive  of  the  discipline  of 
the   primitive  catholic  Church,  and  contrary  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  latest  Scriptures  concerning  Church  Commu- 
nion ;"  London,    1705,  8vo.     About    the   same  time,  ob- 
serving that  the  deprived  bishops  were  reduced  to  a  small 
number,  he  wrote,  "  A   Case   in  View   considered  :  in   a 
Discourse,  ^proving  that  (in  case  our  present  in  valid  ly  de- 
prived fathers  shall  leave  all  their  sees  vacant,  either  by 


188  D  O  D  W  E  L  L. 

death  or  resignation)  we  shall  not  then  be  obliged  to  keep 
up  our  separation  from  those  bishops,   who  are  as  yet  in- 
volved in  the  guilt  of  the  present  unhappy  schism,"   Lond. 
1705,   8vo.     Some  time  after,  he  published   "  A  farther 
prospect  of  the  Case  in  View,  in  answer  to  some  new  ob- 
jections not  then  considered,"  Lond.  1707,  8vo.     Hitherto 
Mr.  Dodwell  had  acted  in  such  a  manner  as  had  procured 
him  the  applause  of  all,  excepting  such  as  disliked  the  non- 
jurors  ;  but,  about  this  time,  he  published  some  opinions 
that  drew  upon   him  almost   universal    censure.     For,  in 
order  to  exalt  the  powers  and  dignity  of  the  priesthood,  in 
that  one  communion,  which  he  imagined  to  be  the  pecu- 
Hum  of  God,  and  to  which  he  had  joined  himself,  he  en- 
deavoured to  prove,  with  his  usual  perplexity  of  learning, 
that  the  doctrine  of  the   soul's  natural  mortality  was  the 
true  and  original  doctrine ;  and  that  immortality  was  only 
at  baptism  conferred  upon  the  soul,  by  the  gift  of  God, 
through  the  hands  of  one  set  of  regularly-ordained  clergy. 
In  support  of  this  opinion,  he  wrote  "  An  Epistolary  Dis- 
course, proving,  from  the  scriptures  and  the  first  fathers, 
that  the  soul  is  a  principle  naturally  mortal ;  but  immor- 
talized actually  by  the  pleasure  of  God,  to  punishment,  or 
to  reward,  by  its   union  with  the  divine  baptismal  spirit. 
Wherein  is  proved,  that  none  have  the  power  of  giving 
this   divine    immortalizing   spirit,  since   the   apostles,  but 
only  the  bishops,"  Lond.    1706,   8vo.     At  the  end  of  the 
preface   to   the   reader  is  a-  dissertation,  to   prove  "  that 
Sacerdotal  Absolution  is  necessary   for  the  Remission  of 
Sins,   even   of  those  who  are   truly  penitent."     This  dis- 
course being  attacked  by  several  persons,  particularly  Chis- 
hull,  Clarke,  Norris,  and  Mills  afterwards  bishop  of  Wa- 
terford,  our  author  endeavoured  to  vindicate  himself  in  the 
three  following  pieces  :    1.  "  A  Preliminary  Defence  of  the 
Epistolary  Discourse,  concerning  the  distinction  between 
Soul  and   Spirit :  in  two  parts.     I.  Against  the  charge  of 
favouring  Impiety.     II.  Against  the  charge   of  favouring 
Heresy,"  Lond.    1707,   8vo.     2.  "  The  Scripture  account 
of  the  Eternal  Rewards  or  Punishments  of  all  that  hear  of 
the  Gospel,   without  an   immortality  necessarily  resulting 
from    the    nature   of   the   souls   themselves  that  are   con- 
cerned in  those  rewards  or  punishments.     Shewing  particu- 
larlv,   I-  How  much  of  this  account  was  discovered  by  the 
best  philosophers.     II.   How  far  the  accounts  of  those  phi- 
losophers were  corrected,  and  improved,  by   the  Hellenis- 
tical  Jews,  assisted  by  the  Revelations  of  the  Old  Testa- 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L.  139 

ment.  III.  How  far  the  discoveries  fore-mentioned  were 
improved  by  the  revelations  of  the  Gospel.  Wherein  the 
testimonies  also  of  S.  Irenaens  and  Tertullian  are  occa- 
sionally considered,"  Lond.  1708,  8vo.  And,  3.  "An 
Explication  of  a  famous  passage  in  the  Dialogue  of  S. 
Justin  Martyr  with  Tryphon,  concerning  the  immortality 
of  human  souls.  With  an  Appendix,  consisting  of  a  let- 
ter to  the  rev.  Mr.  John  Norris,  of  Bemerton  ;  and  an  ex- 
postulation relating  to  the  late  insults  of  Mr.  Clarke  and 
Mr.  Chishull,"  Lond.  1708,  8vo.  Upon  the  death  of  Dr. 
William  Lloyd,  the  deprived  bishop  of  Norwich,  on  the 
first  of  January  1710-11,  Mr.  Dodwell,  with  some  other 
friends,  wrote  to  Dr.  Thomas  Kenn,  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
the  only  surviving  deprived  bishop,  to  know,  whether  he 
challenged  their  subjection  ?  He  returned  for  answer, 
that  he  did  not :  and  signified  his  desire  that  the  breach 
might  be  closed  by  their  joining  with  the  bishops  possessed 
of  their  sees  ;  giving  his  reasons  for  it.  Accordingly,  Mr. 
Dodwell,  and  several  of  his  friends,  joined  in  communion 
with  them.  But  others  refusing  this,  Mr.  Dodwell  was 
exceedingly  concerned,  and  wrote,  "  The  case  in  view 
now  in  fact.  Proving,  that  the  continuance  of  a  separate 
communion,  without  substitutes  in  any  of  the  late  invalidly- 
deprived  sees,  since  the  death  of  William  late  lord  bishop 
of  Norwich,  is  schismatical.  With  an  Appendix,  proving, 
that  our  late  invalidly-deprived  fathers  had  no  right  to  sub- 
stitute successors,  who  might  legitimate  the  separation, 
after  that  the  schism  had  been  concluded  by  the  decease 
of  the  last  survivor  of  those  same  fathers,"  Lond.  1711, 
8vo.  Our  author  wrote  some  few  other  things,  besides 
what  have  been  already  mentioned  *.  At  length,  after  a 

•Namely,  1.  "  Dissertatioad  Frag-  don,  1711,  8ro.     3.  "  Julii  Vitalis  Epi- 

mentum   quoddam   T.   Livii,"    extant  taphium,  cum  notis  Henrici  Dodwelli, 

among  archbishop  Laud's  MSS,  in  the  et  commentario  G.  Musgrave.     Acce- 

Bodleian   library.     Mr.  Dodwell  like-  dit  Dodwelli  Epistola  ad  cl.  Goezhim 

wise  settled  the  times  of  the  actions  re-  de  Piiteolana  &    BajanS.  Inscription!- 

lated  by  that  author,  by  the  years  ab  bus."     Iscas  Dunmoniorum  &  Londini, 

Urbe  Cond.  according  to  Ihe  Varronian  171 1,  8vo.     This  epitaph  of  Julius  Vi- 

account,   set  at  the  top  of  each  page,  talis,  on  which  Mr.  Dodwell  wrote  notes, 

At   the    request  of   a    gentleman    in  was  found  at  Bath,  and  published  by 

the   Isle  of  Man,,  who  had  desired  his  Mr.  Hearne  at  the  end  of  his  edi  ion  of 

thoughts  on  this  point,  "  Whether  the  King  Alfred's  Lite  by  sir  John  Svelrnan, 

church  of  England  had  just  reasons,  8vo.     The  letter  lo  Mr.  Goetz,   profes- 

when  she  reformed,  to  lay  aside  the  SOT  at    Leipsic,   was    written   by    Mr. 

«se  of  incense,  which  was  practised  in  Dodwell  in  ITOO,  beinj  an  explanation 

all  churches  before  our  quarrel  with  of  an  inscription  on  MemoniusCalistus, 

the  church   of  Rome?"  he  wrote,    in  found  at  Puteoli.  and  on  another  found 

1709,  2.  "  A  Discourse  concerning  the  at   Bairn.      4.  "  De   jei.ate    &    patriA 

V*e  of  Incense  in  Dirine  Offices,"  Lon-  Dionysii  Periejetas.       Priuted  hi  the 


190  D  O  D  W  E  L  L. 

very  studious  and  ascetic  course  of  life,  he  died  at  Shot- 
tesbrooke  the  7th  of  June  1711,  in  the  seventieth  year  of 
his  age  ;  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  there, 
where  a  monument  is  erected  to  him.  Mr.  Dodwell,  as  to 
his  person,  was  of  a  small  but  well-proportioned  stature, 
of  a  sanguine  and  fair  complexion,  of  a  grave  and  serious, 
but  a  comely,  pleasant  countenance:  of  a  piercing  eye,  of 
a  solid  judgment,  and  ready  apprehension.  He  naturally 
enjoyed  so  strong  and  vigorous  a  constitution  of  body,  that 
he  knew  not,  by  his  own  experience,  what  the  head-ach 
was.  His  industry  was  prodigious,  as  appears  by  the  many 
books  he  published.  He  was  extremely  frugal  of  his  time, 
and  indefatigable  in  his  studies,  by  which  means  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  almost  all  authors,  both  sacred  and 
profane,  ancient  and  modern.  He  studied,  not  for  his  own 
benefit  only,  but  also  for  that  of  others  :  for  he  was  gene- 
rously communicative,  and  always  ready  to  assist  others  in 
worthy  undertakings  ;  very  zealous  to  promote  learning, 
and  though  learned  almost  beyond  any  one  o.f  his  age,  yet 
(what  is  very  uncommon)  of  singular  humility  and  modesty. 
Accordingly  he  was  courted  and  admired  by  the  most  emi- 
nent men  abroad,  who  bestow  the  highest  encomiums  upon 
him,  on  all  occasions.  It  must,  however,  be  owned,  that, 
as  he  conversed  more  with  books  than  men,  his  style  is, 
for  that  reason,  obscure  and  intricate,  and  full  of  digres- 

Oxford  edition  of  that  author  in  1710,  wherein  he  showed,  that  airtiyj-arro  does 
8vo.  5.  "  De  Parma  Equestri  Wood-  not  signify  his  being  strangled  with 
wardiana  Disserta'.io,"  &c.  ;  on  the  grief,  as  Grotius  and  Dr.  Hammond 
ancient  Roman  shield,  formerly  in  Dr.  understood  it,  but  that  he  hanged  him- 
Woodward's  possession,  whereon  was  self.  It  was  never  printed :  nor  the 
represented  the  sacking  of  Rome  by  following,  which  was  left  unfinished, 
the  Gauls.  This  dissertation,  which  8.  "  A  Dissertation  concerning  the  Time 
Mr.  Dodwell  was  prevented  by  death  of  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old 
from  finishing,  was  published  by  Hearne  Testament  by  the  LXX."  9.  "ADis- 
in  8vo,  Oxon  17 13,  but  brought  Hearne  sertstioa  concerning  the  Laws  of  Na- 
into  a  dispute  with  the  university,  ow-  hire  and  Nations  ;"  in  which  the  author 
i:ig  to  some  supposed  reflections  on  proposed  to  shew,  that  these  lows  w<  re 
the  jurors,  and  he  was  ordered  to  sup-  not  the  result  of  reason,  but  laws  de- 
press the  work.  After,  however,  he  livered  by  God  to  Adam,  or  Noah,  and 
had  cancelled  the  preliminary  niafer,  were  transmitted  to  us  by  tradition. 
the  publicatiou  was  suffered  to  go  on.  10.  He  designed  to  publish  "  The 
Mr.  Dodwell  supposes  this  Roman  Epistle  of  St.  Barnabas,"  with  a  lite- 
shield  to  have  been  made  about  the  ral  translation,  and  notes  ;  having  ever 
time  of  Nero.  6.  Four  letters,  which  since  the  year  1691,  wrote  "  Prolego- 
passed  between  the  right  reverend  the  mena"  to  it ;  but  it  was  left,  imperfect. 
lord  bishop  of  Sarum,  and  Mr.  Henry  11.  Lastly,  He  began  to  s.  tile  the- 
Dodwell,  were  printed  from  the  origi-  time  and  order  in  which  Tertullion 
nals,  Lond.  1713,  12mo.  v^ro'e  each  of  his  books,  on  which  he 

Mr.   Dodwell  wrote  likewise,    7.  A  made  but  very  little  progress. 
Tract  concerning  the  Death  of 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L.  191. 

sions  :  for  he  often  complained  to  his  friends,  that  he  was 
not  able  to  comprise  his  thoughts  in  few  words.  With  re- 
gard to  his  moral  character,  he  was  a  person  of  great 
sobriety  and  temperance ;  of  exemplary  charity,  notwith- 
standing the  narrowness  of  his  fortune ;  of  strict  piety  ;  a 
great  lover  of  the  clergy,  and  a  zealous  member  of  the 
church  of  England.  His  failings  may  be  discovered  even 
from  the  titles  of  his  works.  His  judgment  bore  very  little 
proportion  to  his  learning,  and  for  want  of  this  very  neces- 
sary ingredient  in  controversy,  he  often  unintentionally 
injured  the  cause  he  meant  to  support.  But  while  his 
theological  paradoxes  are  forgot,  his  critical  works  will  still 
support  his  reputation.  Speaking  of  his  "  Annales  Quin- 
tilianse,"  Gibbon  says,  Dodwell's  learning  was  immense  ; 
"  in  this  part  of  history  especially  (that  of  the  upper  em- 
pire) the  most  minute  fact  or  passage  could  not  escape 
him  ;  and  his  skill  in  employing  them  is  equal  to  his  learn- 
ing." Gibbon  adds  the  general  opinion  that  "  the  worst 
of  this  author  is  his  method  and  style  ;  the  one  perplexed 
beyond  imagination,  the  other  negligent  to  a  degree  of 
barbarism." 

Of  Mr.  Dodwell's  ten  children,  six  survived  him  ;  four 
daughters,  and  two  sons,  Henry  and  William.  HENIIY  was 
brought  up  to  the  law,  and  became  sceptical  in  his  princi- 
ples. In  1742,  he  published  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Chris- 
tianity not  founded  upon  Argument,"  which,  under  the 
cover  of  zeal  for  religion,  was  an  attack  upon  revelation. 
It  was  written  with  ingenuity  and  subtlety  ;  excited  great 
attention  for  a  time  ;  and  was  answered  effectually  by  Dr. 
Doddridge,  Leland,  and  other  able  and  learned  men.  This 
Mr.  Henry  Dodwell  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  society 
for  the  encouragement  of  arts,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce, during  the  early  period  of  that  society  ;  and  is  said 
to  have  been  a  polite,  humane,  and  benevolent  man.  Mr, 
Dodwell's  son  William  will  require  a  separate  article.1 

DODWELL  (WILLIAM),  was  born  at  Shottesbrooke,  in 
Berkshire,  June  17,  1709,  and  was  educated  at  Trinity 
college,  Oxford,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  master  of 
arts,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1732.  In  the  course  of  his  life, 
he  obtained  several  considerable  preferments.  He  was 
rector  of  Shottesbrooke,  and  vicar  of  Bucklesbury  and  of 

1  Life  by  Brokesby,  1715,  8vo.— Biog.  Brit. — Gibbon's  Life,  vol.  II.  p.  55. — 
Birch's  Life  ofTiliotson. — Mosh?irn's  History. — Wood's  Fasti,  vol.  II. — Letters 
vriUen  l»y  Eminent  Person*.  1813,  3  vols.  8vo. 


192  D  O  D  W  ELL. 

White-  Waltham.  Dr.  Sherlock,  when  bishop  of  Salisbury, 
gave  him  a  prebendal  stall  in  that  cathedral,  and  he  after- 
wards became  a  canon  of  the  same  church.  Bishop  Thomas 
promoted  him  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Berks.  The  prin- 
cipal works  by  which  he  was  distinguished,  were,  "A  Free 
Answer  to  Dr.  Middleton's  Free  Enquiry,"  published  in 
1749;  and  "A  full  and  final  Reply  to  Mr.  Toll's  "  De- 
fence of  Dr.  Middleton,"  which  appeared  in  1751.  Both 
these  works  were  written  with  temper,  as  well  as  with  learn- 
ing. Our  author  was  judged  to  have  performed  such  good 
service  to  the  cause  of  religion  by  his  answer  to  Dr.  Mid- 
dleton, that  the  university  of  Oxford  conferred  upon  him 
the  degree  of  doctor  in  divinity  by  diploma,  in  full  convo- 
cation on  Feb.  23,  1749-50.  He  published  also,  "Two 
Sermons  on  the  eternity  of  future  punishment,  in  answer 
to  Whiston  ;  with  a  Preface,"  Oxford,  1743;  "Visitation 
Sermon  on  the  desireableness  of  the  Christian  Faith,  pub- 
lished at  the  request  of  bishop  Sherlock,"  Oxford,  1741 ; 
"  Two  Sermons  on  a  rational  faith,"  Oxford,  1745  ;  "  Ser- 
mon on  the  practical  influence  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,"  Oxford,  1715;  "  Dissertation  on  Jepthah's  Vow, 
occasioned  by  Romaine's  Sermon  on  that  subject,"  London, 
1745  ;  "Practical Discourses  (14)  on  moral  subjects,  vol.1." 
London,  1748.  A  Dedication  to  his  patron  Arthur  Van- 
«ittart,  esq.  of  Shottesbrooke,  precedes  a  masterly  preface 
of  considerable  length,  stating  the  great  duties  of  morality, 
£c. ;  "  Vol.  II.  London,  1749,  containing  14  more;"  and 
preceded  by  a  Dedication  to  bishop  Sherlock,  whose  "  un- 
solicited testimony  of  favour"  to  him  laid  him  "  under 
personal  obligations.  Such  a  testimony  from  such  a  patron, 
and  the  obliging  manner  of  conferring  it,  added  much  to  the 
value  of  the  favour  itself."  "  Assize  Sermon  on  Human 
Laws,"  Oxford,  1750  ;  "  Sermon  on  St.  Paul's  Wish,"  Ox- 
ford, 1752;  "Two  Sermons  on  Superstition,"  Oxford,  1754; 
"  Assize  Sermon  on  the  equal  and  impartial  discharge  of 
Justice,"  Oxford,  1756  ;  "  Letter  to  the  Author  of  Con- 
siderations on  the  Act  to  prevent  Clandestine  Marriages; 
with  a  Postscript  occasioned  by  Stebbing's  Enquiry  into 
the  annulling  Causes,"  &c.  London,  1755.  This  Letter 
*' by  a  Country  Clergyman"  was  known,  at  the  time,  as 
Dr.  DodwelPs;  "Two  Sermons  on  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Divine  Visitation  by  Earthquakes,"  Oxford,  1756;  "  As- 
size Sermon  on  the  False  Witness,  Oxford,  1758;  "Ser- 
mon at  the  Meeting  of  the  Charity  Schools,"  London,  1758 ; 


D  O  D  W  E  L  L.  193 

"  Two  Sermons  on  a  particular  Providence,"  Oxford, 
1760  ;  "  Sermon  before  the  Sons  of  the  Clergy,"  London, 
1760;  "Charge  to  the  Clergy  of  the  archdeaconry  of 
Berks,"  London,  1764-;  "Sermon  at  the  Consecration  of 
Bishop  Moss,  in  1766,"  London,  1767;  "The  Sick  Man's 
Companion  ;  or  the  Clergyman's  Assistant  in  visiting  the 
Sick;  with  a  Dissertation  on  Prayer,"  London,  1767; 
"  The  Prayer,  on  laying  the  foundation  stone  of  the  Salis- 
bury infirmary,  subjoined  to  dean  Greene's  Infirmary  Ser- 
mon," Salisbury,  1767;  "  Infirmary  Sermon,"  Salisbury, 
1768.  In  1302,  the  eldest  son  of  our  author  permitted 
the  "  Three  Charges  on  the  Athanasian  Creed,"  in  conse- 
quence of  the  request  of  some  Oxford  friends,  to  see  the 
light.  They  were  accordingly  printed  at  the  university 
press;  and  contributed,  as  the  author  expresses  himself  in 
his  second  page,  "  to  obviate  all  real  mistakes,  to  silence 
all  wilful  misrepresentations,  to  remove  prejudices,  to  con- 
firm the  faith  of  others,  and  to  vindicate  our  own  sincerity 
in  the  profession  of  it :"  and  it  was  considered  by  him  as 
"  not  unseasonable  or  unuseful  to  review  and  justify  that 
which  is  called  the  Athanasian  Creed  ;  not,  we  well  know, 
as  composed  by  him  whose  name  it  bears,  but  as  explain- 
ing the  doctrine  which  he  so  strenuously  maintained." 

Dr.  Dodwell  died  Oct.  21,  1785,  with  the  character, 
which  his  publications  amply  justify,  of  an  orthodox,  dili- 
gent, and  learned  divine.  * 

DOES  (JACOB  VANDER),  first  of  this  family  of  artists, 
was  born  at  Amsterdam  in  1623,  and  after  having  been  a 
disciple  of  N.  Moyart,  travelled  to  Rome,  and  formed  him- 
self on  the  manner  of  Bamboccio.  He  excelled  in  land- 
scapes and  animals.  His  temper  was  melancholy  and  aus- 
tere, so  that  he  incurred  the  displeasure  of  all  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  was  deserted  by  them.  He  died  at  Amsterdam 
iu  1673.  His  tone  is  dark,  but  his  composition  has  dig- 
nity, his  figures  are  well  designed,  and  touched  with  spirit, 
and  his  animals,  especially  the  sheep,  are  painted  with  equal 
truth  and  delicacy.  The  etchings  of  this  master  from 
compositions  of  his  own,  ornamented  with  animals,  are  ex- 
ecuteJ  in  a  slight,  free,  masterly  style.2 

DOES  (JAt  OB  VANDER),  the  son  of  the  former,  was 
born  at  Amsterdam  in  165k  He  was  successively  a  dis- 

1  Biog.  Brit.— Nichols's  Bowyer. — Gent.  Mag.    see  Index. 
-  Argenville,  vol.111,   who,  however,  confounds  the    first  two   artists  of  this 
family. — Descarnps,  vol.  Hi.— Pilkiugton  and  Strutt. 

VOL.  XII.  O 


194  DOE  S. 

ciple  of  Karel  du  Jarclin,  Netscher,  and  Gerard  Laires^fc 
He  was  a  very  ready  designer,  and  possessed  a  lively  ima- 
gination and  good  invention  ;  but  the  impetuosity  of  his 
temper  was  such,  that  he  destroyed  his  compositions,  if 
his  pictures  did  not  please  him  in  the  progress  of  their 
execution  ;  nor  could  the  interposition  and  remonstrances 
of  his  best  friends  avail  for  their  preservation.  His  death, 
in  1693,  at  the  age  of  39  years,  prevented  his  acquiring 
that  fortune  and  high  reputation,  which  the  fame  of  his 
abilities  and  performances  gave  him  reason  to  expect. l 

DOES  (SiMON  VANDER),  brother  to  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  Amsterdam  in  16.53.  Having  learned  the  art  of 
painting  from  his  father,  and  pursuing  the  same  style  and 
manner  in  the  choice  of  the  same  subjects,  he  travelled  to 
Friesland  and  to  England,  and  afterwards  settled  at  the 
Hague.  Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  in  which  the  ex- 
travagance of  a  dissolute  wife  involved  him,  and  the  de- 
pression of  circumstances  and  spirits  which  they  occa- 
sioned, he  persevered  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession.  On 
some  occasions  he  painted  portraits,  resembling  in  their 
touch  and  colouring  those  of  the  old  Netscher ;  but  though 
his  works  were  much  admired  and  sought  after,  he  fell  into 
great  poverty,  and  died  in  1717  at  the  age  of  64  years. 
The  works  of  this  artist  are  peculiarly  pleasing;  and  though 
his  figures  want  elegance,  and  his  colouring  inclines  to  the 
yellow  and  light  brown,  yet  his  cattle  are  so  correct,  his 
touch  so  free  and  easy,  his  distances  and  the  forms  of  his 
trees  so  agreeable,  his  colouring  so  transparent  and  deli- 
cate, and  his  pastoral  subjects  distinguished  by  so  much 
nature  and  simplicity  of  rural  life,  that  his  works  have  been 
very  highly  esteemed,  and  have  been  sold  for  very  large 
prices.  This  artist  has  etched  some  few  small  landscapes, 
with  animal;!,  from  his  own  compositions.2 

DOGGET  (THOMAS),  an  author  and  an  actor,  was  born 
in  Castle-street,  Dublin,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  made  his  first  theatrical  attempt  on  the- 
stage  of  that  metropolis  ;  but  not  meeting  with  encourage- 
ment suitable  to  his  merit,  he  came  over  to  England,  and 
entered  himself  in  a  travelling  company,  but  from  thence 
very  soon  was  removed  to  London,  and  established  in 
Drury-lane  and  Lincoln's-inn-fields  theatres,  where  he 

1  Argenville,  vol.  Ill,— Dcscamps,  vol.  III. — Pilkiogton  and  Strutt. 
«  Ibid. 


D  O  G  G  E  T.  195 

was  universally  liked  in  every  character  he  performed,  but 
in  none  more  than  those  of  Fondlewife  in  the  "  Old  Ba- 
chelor," and  Ben  in  "  Love  for  Love,"  which  Mr.  Con- 
greve,  with  whom  he  was  a  very  great  favourite,  wrote  in 
some  measure  with  a  view  to  his  manner  of  acting. 

In  a  few  years  after  he  removed  to  Drury-lane  theatre, 
where  he  became  joint  manager  with  Wilks  and  Gibber,  in 
which  situation  he  continued,  till,  on  a  disgust  he  took,  in 
the  year  1712,  at  Mr.  Booth's  being  forced  on  him  as  a 
sharer  in  the  management,  he  threw  up  his  part  in  the 
property  of  the  theatre,  though  it  was  looked  on  to  have 
been  worth  1000/.  per  annum.  He  had,  however,  by  his 
frugality,  saved  a  competent  fortune  to  render  him  easy 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  with  which  he  retired  from 
the  hurry  of  business  in  the  very  meridian  of  his  reputa- 
tion. As  an  actor  he  had  great  merit,  and  his  contempo- 
rary, Gibber,  informs  us  that  he  was  the  most  an  original, 
and  the  strictest  observer  of  nature,  of  any  actor  of  his 
time.  His  manner,  though  borrowed  from  none,  frequently 
served  for  a  model  to  many  ;  and  he  possessed  that  pecu- 
liar art  which  so  very  few  performers  are  masters  of,  viz. 
the  arriving  at  the  perfectly  ridiculous,  without  stepping 
into  the  least  impropriety  to  attain  it.  And  so  extremely 
careful  and  skilful  was  he  in  the  dressing  of  his  characters 
to  the  greatest  exactness  of  propriety,  that  the  least  article 
of  what  he  wore  seemed  in  some  measure  to  speak  and 
mark  the  different  humour  he  presented. 

Dogget  died  at  Eltham  in  Kent,  Sept.  22,  1721,  and 
was  interred  there.  In  his  political  principles  he  was,  in 
the  words  of  sir  Richard  Steele,  a  "  whig  up  to  the  head 
and  ears  ;"  and  so  strictly  was  he  attached  to  the  interests 
of  the  house  of  Hanover,  that  he  never  let  slip  any  occa- 
sion that  presented  itself  of  demonstrating  his  sentiments 
in  that  respect.  The  year  after  George  I.  came  to  the 
throne,  this  actor  gave  a  waterman's  coat  and  silver  badge, 
to  be  rowed  for  by  six  watermen,  on  the  1st  day  of  August, 
being  the  anniversary  of  that  king's  accession  to  the  throne ; 
and  at  his  death  bequeathed  a  certain  sum  of  money,  the 
interest  of  which  was  to  be  appropriated  annually,  forever, 
to  the  purchase  of  a  like  coat  and  badge,  to  be  rowed  for 
in  honour  of  the  day.  This  ceremony  still  continues  to  be 
performed  every  year  on  the  1st  of  August,  the  claimants, 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  match,  setting  out  on  a  signal 
given  at  that  time  of  the  tide  when  the  current  is  strongest 

O  2 


196  D  O  G  G  E  T. 

against  them,  and  rowing  from  the  Old  Swan  near  London- 
bridge  to  the  White  Swan  at  Chelsea. 

As  a  writer,  Dogget  has  left  behind  him  only  one  comedy, 
which  has  not  been  performed  in  its  original  state  for  many 
years,  entitled  "  The  Country  Wake,  1696,"  4to.  It  has 
been  altered,  however,  into  a  ballad  farce,  which  fre- 
quently makes  its  appearance  under  the  title  of  "  Flora  ; 
or,  Hob  in  the  Well."  l 

DOGI1ERTY  (THOMAS),  an  eminent  special  pleader 
and  law  writer,  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  educated  at  a 
country  school.  He  came  to  England  early  in  life,  with 
an  able  capacity  and  habits  of  industry,  but  without  any 
direct  prospect  of  employment,  or  choice  of  profession. 
He  became,  however,  clerk  to  the  late  Mr.  Bower,  a  very 
profound  lawyer,  where,  with  assiduous  study,  he  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  special  pleading,  and  the  law  connected 
with  that  abstruse  science;  and  such  was  his  diligence,  that 
in  a  comparatively  short  time,  he  accumulated  a  collection 
of  precedents  and  notes  that  appeared  to  his  employer  an 
effort  of  great  labour  and  ingenuity.  After  having  been 
many  years  with  Mr.  Bower,  the  latter  advised  him  to  com- 
mence special  pleader,  and  in  this  branch  of  the  profession 
he  soon  acquired  great  reputation  ;  his  drafts,  which  were 
generally  the  work  of  his  own  hand,  being  admired  as 
models  of  accuracy.  They  were  formed  according  to  the 
neat  and  concise  system  of  Mr.  Bower,  and  his  great  friend 
and  patron  sir  Joseph  Yates,  many  of  whose  books,  notes, 
and  precedents,  as  well  as  those  of  sir  Thomas  Davenport, 
Mr.  Dogherty  possessed.  This  intense  application,  how- 
ever, greatly  impaired  his  health,  which  was  visibly  on  the 
decline  for  many  months  before  his  decease.  This  event 
took  place  at  his  chambers  in  Clifford's-inn,  Sept.  29,  1805, 
and  deprived  the  profession  of  a  man  of  great  private 
worth,  modest  and  unassuming  manners,  independent  mind, 
and  strict  honour  and  probity.  Mr.  Dogherty  was  the 
author  and  editor  of  some  valuable  works  on  criminal  law. 
He  published  a  new  edition  of  the  "Crown  Circuit  Com- 
panion;" and  an  original  composition,  in  1786,  "The 
Crown  Circuit  Assistant,"  which  is  a  most  useful  supple- 
ment to  the  former.  In  1 800  he  edited  a  new  edition  of 
Hale's  "  Historia  Placitorum  Coronse,"  in  2  vols.  8vo, 
with  an  abridgment  of  the  statutes  relating  to  felonies, 

1  Biog.  Dram.— Cibber's  Apology. 


D  O  G  H  E  R  T  Y.  197 

continued  to  that  date,  and  with  notes  and  references. 
His  common-place  and  office-books,  still  in  manuscript, 
are  said  to  be  highly  valuable. l 

DOLBEN  (JOHN),  archbishop  of  York,  was  a  prelate 
of  considerable  worth,  abilities,  and  eminence,  in  the  reigns 
of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.  a  man  who,  to  the  courage  and 
fidelity  which  had   first  deserved  a  military  reward,    united 
all  those  talents  and  qualifications  which  could  justify  his 
subsequent  advancement  to  the  honours   of  the  church. 
He  was  born  at  Stanwick,  in  Northamptonshire,  March  20, 
1625,   being  the  fifth  in  descent  from  William  Dolben  of 
Denbighshire ;  and  descended  from  an   ancient  family  of 
that  name,  settled  at  Segrayd,  in  the  same  county.     Dr. 
William  Dolben,   the  father  of  the  archbishop,  was  at  that 
time  rector  of  Stanwick,  and  of  Benefield,  to  both  of  which 
he  was  instituted  in  one  day  ;•  and  prebendary  of  Lincoln, 
through  the  interest  of  the  lord  keeper  Williams,  whose 
niece  Elizabeth  Williams  he  had  married.     Few  marriages 
have  been  more  fortunate  in  their  issue  :  besides  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  article,  their  second  son  William  proved 
highly  eminent  in  the  profession  to  which  he  was  educated. 
He  became  recorder  of  London,  received  the  honour  of 
knighthood,  and  in  1678  was  appointed  one  of  the  judges 
in  the  court  of  common  pleas.     In  1683  he  was  removed 
from  that  situation,  very  highly  to  his  honour,  being  the 
only  judge  that  gave  his  opinion  against  the  legality  of  dis- 
solving corporations  by  quo  warranto.     His  rank  was  justly 
restored  by  king  William;  who,  in  1689,  appointed  him  a 
judge  of  the  king's  bench  ;  and  in  that  station  he  remained 
till  his  death,   which  happened  in  1693,  the  65th  year  of 
his  age.     He  was  buried  in  the  Temple  church,  and  left  a 
character  of  high  estimation  for  strict  integrity,  and  the 
most  penetrating  discernment.    Dr.  William  Dolben,  how- 
ever, neither  lived  to  see  the  eminence  of  his  sons,  nor  to 
complete  his  own  career  of  advancement ;  for  he  died  in, 
1631,  when   his  eldest  son  John   was  only  six  years  old, 
being  himself  nominated,  at  the  time,  for  the  succession  to 
a  vacant  bishopric*,  but  his  death  produced  an  affecting  tes- 
timony to  his  merit,  of  no  small  value  in  the  moral  estimate 

*  The  compiler  of  the  "  Baronetage"  not  then  vacant :  it  was  probably  Ban- 
names  Gloucester  as  the  see  to  which  gor,  to  which  his  relation,  David  DoU 
he    was  to  have   succeeded  ;  but  this  ben,  was  then  appointed, 
must  be  an   error,  as  Gloucester  was 

»  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXXV 


198  DOLBEN. 

of  honours.  This  was  conferred  by  his  parishioners  of 
&tan\vick,  by  whom  he  was  so  sincerely  beloved,  that  ou 
his  falling  ill  at  London  of  the  sickness  which  proved  fatal 
to  him,  they  plowed  and  sowed  his  glebe  lands  at  their 
own  expence,  that  his  widow  might  have  the  benefit  of  the 
crop  ;  which  she  accordingly  received  after  his  decease : 
an  anecdote  more  felt  and  valued  by  his  family  than  any 
thing  that  usually  adorns  the  page  of  the  biographer. 

John  Dolben,  afterwards  archbishop,  was  educated  at 
Westminster-school,  where  he  was  admitted  a  king's 
scholar  in  1636  ;  and  in  1640  was  elected  to  Christ  church, 
Oxford,  where  he  was  admitted,  in  the  same  year,  a  stu- 
dent on  queen  Elizabeth's  foundation.  It  has  been  thought 
worthy  of  remark,  as  a  strong  instance  of  hereditary  attach- 
ment to  those  seminaries,  that  he  was  the  second  in  order, 
of  six  succeeding  generations,  which  have  passed  through 
the  same  steps  of  education,  and  it  has  been  remarked 
that  since  his  time,  Westminster-school  has  rarely  been 
without  a  Dolben. 

When  the  civil  wars  broke  out,  Mr.  Dolben  took  arms 
for  the  royal  cause  in  the  garrison  at  Oxford,  and  served  as 
an  ensign  in  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Marston-Moor,  in 
1644,  where  he  received  a  dangerous  wound  in  the  shoulder 
from  a  musquet-ball ;  but  in  the  defence  of  York,  soon 
after,  he  received  a  severer  wound  of  the  same  kind  in  the 
thigh  ;  which  broke  the  bone,  and  confined  him  twelve 
months  to  his  bed.  In  the  course  of  his  military  service 
he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and,  according  to 
Wood,  of  major.  In  1646,  when  there  appeared  no  longer 
any  hope  of  serving  the  king's  cause  by  arms,  when  Ox- 
ford and  his  other  garrisons  were  surrendered,  and  himself 
in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  Mr.  Dolben  retired  again  to 
his  college,  and  renewed  his  studies ;  a  sense  of  duty  had 
made  him  an  active  soldier;  inclination  and  natural  abili- 
ties rendered  him  at  all  times  a  successful  student.  In 
1647  he  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  and  remained 
at  college  till  ejected  by  the  parliamentarian  visitors  in 
1648.  In  the  interval  between  this  period  and  the  year 
1656,  when  he  entered  into  holy  orders,  we  have  no  ac- 
count of  him  ;  but  it  is  most  probable  that  his  time  was, 
in  general,  studiously  employed,  and  especially  from  the 
moment  when  he  took  up  that  design.  From  1657,  when 
he  married  Catharine  daughter  of  Ralph,  elder  brother  of 
archbishop  Sheldon,  to  the  time  of  the  king's  restoration, 


DOLBEN.  199 

he  lived  in  Oxford,  at  the  bouse  of  his  father-in-law,  in 
St.  Aldate's  parish  ;  and  throughout  that  interval,  in  con- 
junction with  Dr.  Fell  and  Dr.  Allestree,  constantly  per- 
formed divine  service  and  administered  the  sacraments, 
according  to  the  Liturgy  of  the  church  of  England,  to  the 
great  comfort  of  the  royalists  then  resident  in  Oxford,  par- 
ticularly the  students  ejected  in  1648,  who  formed  a  re- 
gular and  pretty  numerous  congregation*.  The  house 
appropriated  to  this  sacred  purpose  was  then  the  residence 
of  Dr.  Thomas  Willis,  the  celebrated  physician,  and  is  yet 
.standing,  opposite  to  Merton  college.  The  attachment  of 
Mr.  Dolben  to  what  he  considered  as  the  right  cause  had 
before  been  active  and  courageous ;  it  was  now  firm  and 
unwearied,  with  equal  merit,  and  with  better  success. 

When  the  regal  government  was  restored,  for  the  sake 
of  which  Mr.  Dolben  had  so  often  hazarded  his  life,  his 
zeal  for  the  cause  and  sufferings  in  it  were  not  forgotten 
by  the  king  f.  In  that  very  year,  1660,  he  took  his  de- 
gree of  D.  D.  on  being  appointed  a  canon  of  Christ  Church, 
Oxford.  In  the  same  year  he  was  also  presented  to  the 
rectory  of  Newington-cum-Britwell,  in  Oxfordshire,  in  the 
gift  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  His  preferments 
and  honours  now  succeeded  each  other  rapidly  ;  the  time 
of  trial  was  past,  and  the  time  of  reward  had  arrived.  In 
1661  he  became  a  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's  (the  prebend  of 
Cadington  major),  and  was  one  of  those  who  signed  the 
revised  Liturgy,  which  passed  the  house  of  convocation 
December  iiotb,  in  that  year.  In  1662  he  was  appointed 
archdeacon  of  London,  and  presented  to  the  vicarage  of 
St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate;  but  resigned  both  a  short  time 
after,  with  his  other  parochial  preferment,  on  being  in- 
stalled dean  of  Westminster.  He  was  chosen  prolocutor 
of  the  lower  house  of  convocation  in  1664,  and  soon  after 
became  clerk  of  the  closet  to- the  king.  In  1666  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  allowed  to  hold  the 
deanery  of  Westminster  in  commendam.  In  1675  he  was 

*  In  the  mansion  of  the  Dolben  fa-  Ham  Dolben   to  the   society  of  Christ 

mily    in    Northamptonshire    is    a    fine  church.  Oxford,  an<1  is  placed  in  their 

painting-  by  sir   Peter  I.ely,  grounded  hall.     Chalmers's    History  of  Oxford, 

upon  the  abo?e  circumstance.     In  this  p.  312. 

piece  Dr.  Fell,  Dr.  Dolben,  and  Dr.  f  When  the  regicides  were  con- 
Allestree,  are  represented  in  thrir  <;a-  deinned,  Dr.  Dolbeu  and  Dr.  Barwiek 
uouical  habits,  as  joining  in  the  liturgy  were  appointed  to  visit  some  of  them  in 
of  the  church.  A  copy  of  this  picture  pn-s->n.  .See  an  account  of  this  iu  Bar- 
lias  lately  been  presented  by  sir  WiU  wick's  Life,  p<liy;>,  &c. 


200  D  O  L  B  E  N. 

appointed  lord  high  almoner  ;  an  office,  says  Wood,  which 
he  discharged  with  such  justice  and  integrity  as  was  for 
the  great  benefit  of  the  poor.  It  would  betray  great  ig- 
norance of  the  ways  of  courts  to  suppose,  that  in  all  these 
steps  he  was  not  in  part  indebted  to  the  interference  and 
interest  of  archbishop  Sheldon  ;  yet  where  merit  is  conspi- 
cuous, the  effect  of  patronage  is  greatly  facilitated,  which 
appears  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  instance  now  be- 
fore us. 

Translation  to  the  see  of  York  was  the  final  gradation  of 
his  honours,  and  enjoyed  only  for  a  short  time,  as  between 
the  last  advancement  and  his  death  something  less  than 
three  years  intervened.  He  was  translated  to  York  in 
August  1683*,  and  then  became,  by  an  unusual  transition, 
the  ecclesiastical  governor  of  that  place  which  he  had 
formerly  assisted  in  defending  by  military  force.  His  acti- 
vity was  not  yet  exhausted,  though  exerted  in  a  different 
way ;  he  diligently  contributed  to  the  good  administration 
of  the  service  in  his  cathedral,  and  in  1685  made  a  new 
regulation  of  archbishop  Grindal's  order  of  preachers,  and 
appointed  a  weekly  celebration  of  the  holy  sacrament :  and 
was,  in  all  respects,  as  his  epitaph  expresses  it,  an  exam- 
ple both  to  the  flock  and  to  the  pastors  under  him.  The 
death  of  archbishop  Dolben  was  occasioned,  not  by  natural 
decay,  but  by  criminal  neglect.  At  an  inn  on  the  North 
road  he  was  suffered  by  the  proprietors  to  sleep  in  a  room 
where  the  infection  of  the  small-pox  remained  ;  he  there 
caught  the  disorder,  which  being  of  a  virulent  kind,  and 
attended  with  lethargy,  put  an  end  to  his  life  at  Bishop- 
thorp,  on  the  1 1th  of  April  1686,  in  the  sixty-second  year 
of  his  age,  after  a  confinement  to  his  bed  of  only  four  days. 
The  body  of  the  archbishop  was  deposited  in  the  cathedral 
at  York,  where  a  handsome  monument,  with  a  very  copious 
inscription,  records  his  merits,  and  the  principal  circum- 
stances of  his  life. 

Anthony  Wood  says  of  archbishop  Dolben,  that  "  he 
was  a  man  of  a  free,  generous,  and  noble  disposition,  and 
of  a  natural,  bold,  and  happy  eloquence."  The  latter 
circumstance  is  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  his  epitaph  j 

*  Burnet,  in  speaking  of  his  transla-  indeed  he  prored  a  much  better  a  rch- 

tion  to  York,  characterizes  him  a*  "  a  bishop   than    he  had  been  a  bishop." 

man  of  more  spirit  than  discretion,  and  Some  part  of  this  character  redounds 

an  excellent   preacher,  but  of  a  free  to  the  konour  of  archbishop  Dolben, 

conversation,  which  laid  him  open  to  and  some  part,  perhaps   our  readers 

much  censure  in  a  vicious  court.    And  will  think,  is  not  rery  intelligible. 


D  O  L  B  £  N.  201 

and  by  another,  which  we  shall  presently  cite  at  large. 
The  former,  by  the  following  instances  of  his  liberality  at 
the  different  places  with  which  he  was  connected.  The 
pulpit  at  Stanwick  is  inscribed  as  his  gift  when  bishop  of 
Rochester.  He  contributed  one  hundred  pounds  to  the 
rebuilding  of  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  and  two  hundred  and 
fifty  to  the  repairs  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  He  rebuilt 
part  of  the  episcopal  palace  at  Bromley  ;  and,  when  dean 
of  Westminster,  influenced  the  chapter  to  assign  an  equal 
share  with  their  own,  in  the  dividends  of  fines,  to  the 
repairs  and  support  of  that  venerable  church.  At  York  he 
gave  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  ounces  of  plate  for  the 
use  of  the  cathedral. 

But  the  fullest  account  of  his  person,  talents,  and  cha- 
racter, was  drawn  up  by  his  friend  sir  William  Trumbull, 
and  is  still  extant  in  his  own  hand-writing  ;  which,  as  it 
proceeds  from  a  person  who  had  the  fullest  knowledge  of 
him,  and  is  certainly  authentic,  we  shall  preserve  in  the 
original  words.  "  He  was  an  extraordinary  comely  per- 
son, though  grown  too  fat  ;  of  an  open  countenance,  a 
lively  piercing  eye,  and  a  majestic  presence.  He  hated 
flattery,  and  guarded  himself  with  all  possible  care  against 
the  least  insinuation  of  any  thing  of  that  nature,  how  well 
soever  he  deserved  :  he  had  admirable  natural  parts,  and 
great  acquired  ones;  for  whatever  he  read  he  made  his 
own,  and  improved  it.  He  had  such  an  happy  genius, 
and  such  an  admirable  elocution,  that  his  extempore 
preaching  was  beyond  not  only  most  of  other  men's  ela- 
borate performances,  but  (I  was  going  to  say)  even  his 
own.  I  have  been  credibly  informed,  that  in  Westminster- 
abbey  a  preacher  falling  ill  after  he  had  named  his  text, 
and  proposed  the  heads  of  his  intended  discourse,  the 
bishop  went  up  into  the  pulpit,  took  the  same  text,  fol- 
lowed the  same  method,  and,  I  believe,  discoursed  much 
better  on  each  head  than  the  other  would  have  done. 

"  In  the  judgment  he  made  of  other  men,  he  always 
preferred  the  good  temper  of  their  minds  above  all  other 
qualities  they  were  masters  of:  and  it  was  this  single 
opinion  he  had  of  my  integrity,  which  made  him  the 
worthiest  friend  to  me  I  ever  knew.  1  have  had  the  honour 
to  converse  with  many  of  the  most  eminent  men  at  home 
and  abroad,  but  I  never  yet  met  with  one  that  in  all  respects 
equalled  him.  He  bad  a  large  and  generous  soul,  and  a 
courage  that  nothing  was  too  hard  for :  when  he  was 


202  D  O  L  B  E  N. 

basely  calumniated,  he  supported  himself  by  the  only  true 
heroism,  if  I  may  so  phrase  it;  I  mean  by  exalted  Chris- 
tianity, and  by  turning  all  the  slander  of  his  enemies  into 
the  best  use  of  studying  and  knowing  himself,  and  keeping 
a  constant  guard  and  watch  upon  his  words  and  actions, 
practising  ever  after  (though  hardly  to  be  discovered,  un- 
less by  nice  and  long  observers),  a  strict  course  of  life, 
and  a  constant  mortification. 

"  Not  any  of  the  bishop's  bench,  I  may  say  not  all  of 
them,  had  that  interest  and  authority  in  the  house  of  lords 
which  he  had.  He  had  easily  mastered  all  the  forms  of 
proceeding.  He  had  studied  much  of  our  laws,  especially 
those  of  the  parliament,  and  was  not  to  be  brow-beat  or 
daunted  by  the  arrogance  or  titles  of  any  courtier  or  fa- 
vourite. His  presence  of  mind  and  readiness  of  elocution, 
accompanied  with  good  breeding  and  an  inimitable  wit, 
gave  him  a  greater  superiority  than  any  other  lord  could 
pretend  to  from  his  dignity  of  office.  I  wish  I  had  a  talent 
suitable  to  the  love  and  esteem  I  have  for  this  great  and 
good  rnan,  to  enlarge  more  upon  this  subject ;  and,  when 
I  think  of  his  death,  1  cannot  forbear  dropping  some  tears, 
for  myself  as  well  as  for  the  public  ;  for  in  him  we  lost  the 
greatest  abilities,  the  usefullest  conversation,  the  faith- 
tuliest  friendship,  and  one  who  had  a  mind  that  practised 
the  best  virtues  itself,  and  a  wit  that  was  best  able  to  re- 
commend them  to  others,  as  Dr.  Sprat  expresses  it  in  his 
Life  of  Mr.  Cowley." 

As  an  author,  not  much  remains  to  testify  his  abilities. 
It  is  said  by  Wood,  that  he  was  not  very  careful  to  print 
his  sermons,  though  they  much  deserved  publication  :  and, 
in  fact,  only  three  are  known  to  be  extant.  1.  "  A  Sermon 
preached  before  the  king  at  Whitehall,  on  Good  Friday, 
March  24,  1664."  The  text  from  John  xix.  part  of  ver. 
19.  2.  "  A  Sermon  on  Psal.  liv.  ver.  6  and  7,"  on  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  for  a  naval  victory;  namely,  June  20,  1665. 
3.  Another  on  a  similar  occasion  in  1666,  the  text  from 
Psal.  xviii.  1,  2,  3.  Both  these  were  also  preached  before 
the  king.  They  are  all  printed  in  quarto. 

The  wife  of  archbishop  Dolben  (by  whom  he  had  three 
children,  Gilbert  and  John,  and  a  daughter  Catharine, 
who  died  an  infant),  survived  him  till  1706,  when  she  died 
at  Fir.edon,  in  Northamptonshire,  in  her  eightieth  year. 
His  eldest  son,  Gilbert,  who  furnished  Dryden  with  the 
various  editions  of  Virgil,  when  about  to  translate  thus 


D  O  L  B  E  N.  203 

poet,  was  afterwards  created  a  baronet  by  queen  Anne, 
and  for  many  years  represented  the  city  of  Peterborough 
in  parliament.  He  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  common 
pleas  in  Ireland  by  William  III.  and  held  that  office  for 
twenty  years.  He  died  in  1722.  The  probity  and  worth 
of  the  present  representatives  of  this  family  are  well 
known.  * 

DOLCE  (CARLO,  or  CARLINO),  a  very  eminent  artist, 
was  born  at  Florence  in  1616,  and  was  a  disciple  of Jacopo 
Vignali.  His  first  attempt  was  a  whole  figure  of  St.  John, 
pointed  when  he  was  only  eleven  years  of  age,  which 
received  extraordinary  approbation  ;  and  afterwards  he 
painted  the  portrait  of  his  mother,  which  gained  him  such 
general  applause  as  placed  him  in  the  highest  rank  of 
merit.  From  that  time  his  new  and  delicate  style  procured 
him  great  employment  in  Florence,  and  other  cities  of 
Italy,  as  much,  or  even  more  than  he  was  able  to  execute. 
This  great  master  was  particularly  fond  of  painting  sacred 
subjects,  although  he  sometimes  painted  portraits.  His 
works  are  easily  distinguished  ;  not  so  much  by  any  supe- 
riority to  other  renowned  artists  in  design  or  force,  as  by  a 
peculiar  delicacy  with  which  he  perfected  all  his  composi- 
tions; by  a  pleasing  tint  of  colour,  improved  by  a  judicious 
management  of  the  chiaroscuro,  which  gave  his  figures  a 
surprising  relief;  by  the  graceful  airs  of  his  heads;  and 
by  a  placid  repose  diffused  over  the  whole.  His  pencil 
was  tender,  his  touch  inexpressibly  neat,  and  his  colouring 
transparent ;  though  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that  he  has 
often  been  censured  for  the  excessive  labour  bestowed  on 
his  pictures  and  carnations,  that  have  more  the  appearance 
of  ivory  than  the  look  of  flesh.  In  his  manner  of  working- 
he  was  remarkably  slow ;  and  it  is  reported  of  him  that  hi.s 
brain  was  affected  by  having  seen  Luca  Giordano  dispatch 
more  business  in  four  or  five  hours,  than  he  could  have 
done  in  so  many  months.  In  the  Palazzo  Corsini,  at 
Florence,  there  is  a  picture  of  St.  Sebastian  painted  by 
Carlino  Dolce,  half  figures  of  the  natural  size.  It  is  ex- 
tremely correct  in  the  design,  and  beautifully  coloured; 
but  it  is  rather  too  much  laboured  in  regard  to  the  finish- 
ing, and  hath  somewhat  of  the  ivory  look  in  the  rlesh 
colour.  In  the  Palazzo  Ricardi  is  another  picture  of  his, 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Le  Neve's  Lives  of  the  Archbishops,  vol.  II. — Wood's  Athena;, 
vol.  11, — Wood's  Annals,  and  Colleges  and  Halls. 


204  DOLCE. 

representing  the  Four  Evangelists  ;  the  figures  are  as  large 
as  life,  at  half  length  ;  and  it  is  a  lovely  performance  ;  nor 
does  there  appear  in  it  that  excessive  high  finishing  for 
which  he  is  censured.  The  two  best  figures  are  St.  Mat- 
thew and  St.  John  ;  but  the  latter  is  superior  to  all ;  it  is 
excellent  in  the  design,  the  character  admirable,  and  the 
whole  well  executed.  There  is  also  a  fine  picture  by  him 
in  the  Pembroke  collection  at  Wilton,  of  which  the  sub- 
ject is  the  Virgin  ;  it  is  ornamented  with  flowers,  and  those 
were  painted  by  Mario  da  Fieri.  This  artist  died  at  Flo- 
rence in  1686.  His  daughter  Agnese  Dolce  was  taught 
painting  by  him,  and  strove  to  imitate  him,  which,  how- 
ever, she  did  best  by  furnishing  copies  from  his  numerous 
pictures.  Sir  Robert  Strange,  who  had  a  fine  St.  Margaret 
by  Carlo,  observes,  that  however  perfect,  and  however 
studied  his  pictures  are,  it  must  be  allowed  that  he  la- 
boured more  to  please  the  eye  than  to  enrich  the  under- 
standing by  conveying  to  it  great  or  noble  ideas. l 

DOLCE  (LEWIS),  a  most  laborious  Italian  writer,  was 
born  at  Venice  in  1508.  His  family  was  one  of  the  most 
ancient  in  the  republic,  but  reduced  in  circumstances. 
Lewis  remained  the  whole  of  his  life  in  his  native  city, 
occupied  in  his  numerous  literary  undertakings,  which 
procured  him  some  personal  esteem,  but  little  reputation 
or  wealth.  Perhaps  his  best  employment  was  that  of  cor-, 
rector  of  the  press  to  the  celebrated  printer  Gabriel  Gio- 
lito,  whose  editions  are  so  much  admired  for  the  beauties 
of  type  and  paper,  and  yet  with  the  advantage  of  Dolce's 
attention,  are  not  so  correct  as  could  be  wished.  As  an 
original  author,  Dolce  embraced  the  whole  circle  of  polite 
literature  and  science,  being  a  grammarian,  rhetorician, 
orator,  historian,  philosopher,  editor,  translator,  and  com- 
mentator ;  and  as  a  poet,  he  wrote  tragedies,  comedies, 
epics,  lyrics,  and  satires.  All  that  can  be  called  events 
in  his  life,  were  some  literary  squabbles,  particularly  with 
Ruscelli,  who  was  likewise  a  corrector  of  Giolito's  press. 
He  died  of  a  dropsical  complaint  in  1569,  according  to 
Apostolo  Zeno,  and,  according  to  Tiraboschi,  in  1566. 
Baillet,  unlike  most  critics,  says  he  was  one  of  the  best 
writers  of  his  age.  His  style  is  flowing,  pure,  and  elegant; 
but  he  was  forced  by  hunger  to  spin  out  his  works,  and  to 
neglect  that  frequent  revisal  which  is  so  necessary  to  the 

1  Pilkington. — Sir  R.  Strange's  Catalogue. 


DOLCE.  205 

finishing  of  a  piece.  Of  his  numerous  works,  a  list  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  Niceron,  or  Moreri,  the  following 
are  in  some  reputation  :  1.  "  Dialogo  della  pittura,  intito- 
lato  I'Aretino,"  Venice,  1557,  8vo.  This  work  was  re- 
printed, with  the  French  on  the  opposite  page,  at  Florence, 
1735.  2.  "  Cinque  priini  canti  del  Sacripante,"  Vinegia^ 
1535,  8vo.  3.  "  Primaleone,"  1562,  4to.  4.  "  Achilles;1* 
and  "  Jineas,"  1570,  4to.  5.  "  La  prima  imprese  del 
conte  Orlando,"  1572,  4to.  6.  Poems  in  different  col- 
lections, among  others  in  that  of  Berni.  And  the  Lives  of 
Charles  V.  and  Ferdinand  the  First. l 

DOLET  (STEPHEN),  a  voluminous  French  writer,  who 
was  burnt  for  his  religious  opinions  at  Paris,  was  born  at 
Orleans  about  1509,  of  a  good  family.  Some  have  re- 
ported that  he  was  the  natural  son  of  Francis  I.  but  this 
does  not  agree  with  the  age  of  that  monarch,  who  was 
born  in  1494.  Dolet  began  his  studies  at  Orleans,  and 
was  sent  to  continue  them  at  Paris  when  twelve  years  old. 
He  applied  with  particular  diligence  to  the  belles  lettres, 
and  to  rhetoric  under  Nicholas  Berauld.  His  taste  for 
these  studies  induced  him  to  go  to  Padua,  where  he  re- 
mained for  three  years,  and  made  great  progress  under  the 
instructions  of  Simon  de  Villa  Nova,  with  whom  he  con- 
tracted an  intimate  friendship,  and  not  only  dedicated 
some  of  his  poetical  pieces  to  him,  but  on  his  death  in 
1530,  composed  some  pieces  to  his  memory,  and  wrote 
his  epitaph.  After  the  death  of  this  friend,  he  intended  to 
have  returned  to  France,  but  John  de  Langeac,  the  Vene- 
tian ambassador,  engaged  him  as  his  secretary.  During 
his  residence  at  Venice,  he  received  some  instructions  from 
Baptiste  F,griatio,  who  commented  on  Lucretius  and  Ci- 
cero's Offices,  and  he  became  enamoured  of  a  young  lady 
whose  charms  and  death  he  has  celebrated  in  his  Latin 
poems.  On  his  return  to  France  with  the  ambassador,  he 
pursued  his  study  of  Cicero,  who  became  his  favourite 
author ;  and  he  began  to  make  collections  for  his  com- 
mentaries on  the  Latin  language.  His  friends  having 
about  this  time  advised  him  to  study  law,  as  a  profession, 
he  went  to  Toulouse,  and  divided  his  time  between  law  arid 
the  belles  lettres.  Toulouse  was  then  famous  for  law 
studies,  and  as  it  was  frequented  by  students  of  all  nations, 

i  Tirabo«chi.— -Ginguene  Hist.  Lit.  d'lta'ie.— JTceron,  vol.  XXXII.— Moren, 
— Saxii  Onomast. 


206  D  O  L  E  T. 

each  had  its  little  society,  and  its  orator  or  president. 
The  French  scholars  chose  Doiet  into  this  office,  and  he, 
with  the  rashness  which  adhered  to  him  all  his  life,  com- 
menced hy  a  harangue  in  which  he  praised  the  French  at 
the  expence  of  the  Toulousians,  wliom  he  accused  of  ig- 
norance and  barbarism,  because  the  parliament  of  Toulouse 
wished  to  prohibit  these  societies.  This  was  answered  by 
Peter  Pinache,  to  whom  JJolet  replied  with  such  aggravated 
contempt  for  the  Toulousians,  that  in  1533  he  was  im- 
prisoned for  a  month,  and  then  banished  from  the  city. 
Some  think  he  harboured  Lutheran  opinions,  which  was 
the  cause  of  his  imprisonment  and  banishment,  but  there 
is  not  much  in  his  writings  to  justify  this  supposition, 
except  his  occasional  sneers  at  ecclesiastics.  As  soon, 
however,  as  he  reached  Lyons,  he  took  his  revenge  by 
publishing  his  harangues  against  the  Touloiuians,  with 
some  satirical  verses  on  those  whom  he  considered  as  the 
most  active  promoters  of  his  disgrace ;  and  that  he  might 
have  something  to  plead  against  the  consequences  of  such 
publications,  he  pretended  that  they  had  been  stolen  from 
him  and  given  to  the  press  without  his  knowledge.  The 
verses  were,  however,  inserted  in  the  collection  of  his 
Latin  poems  printed  in  1538. 

After  residing  for  some  time  at  Lyons,  Dolet  came  to 
Paris  in  October  1534,  and  published  some  new  works; 
and  was  about  to  have  returned  to  Lyons  in  1536,  but  was 
obliged  to  abscond  for  a  time,  having  killed  a  person  who 
had  attacked  him.  Ke  then  came  to  Paris,  ami  presented 
himself  to  Francis  I.  who  received  him  graciously,  and 
granted  him  a  pardon,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  return 
to  Lyons.  All  these  incidents  he  has  introduced  in  his 
poems.  It  appears  to  have  been  on  his  return  to  Lyons  at 
this  time  that  he  commenced  the  business  of  printer,  and  the 
first  work  which  came  from  his  press  in  1538,  was  the  four 
books  of  his  Latin  poems.  He  also  married  about  the 
same  time,  and  had  a  son,  Claude,  born  to  him  in  1539. 
whose  birth  he  celebrates  in  a  Latin  poem  printed  the  same 
year.  From  some  parts  of  his  poems  in  his  "  Second 
Enfer,"  it  would  appear  that  the  imprisonment  we  have 
mentioned,  was  not  all  he  suffered,  and  that  he  was  im- 
prisoned twice  at  Lyons,  and  once  at  Paris,  before  that 
final  imprisonment  which  ended  in  his  death.  For  all  these 
we  are  unable  to  account;  his  being  confined  at  Paris 
appears  to  have  been  for  his  religious  opinions,  but  after 


D  O  L  E  T.  207 

fifteen  months  he  was  released  by  the  interest  of  Peter 
Castellanus,  or  Du  Chatel,  then  bishop  of  Tulles.  He 
was  not,  however,  long  at  large,  being  arrested  at  Lyons, 
Jan.  1,  1544,  from  which  he  contrived  to  make  his  escape, 
and  took  refuge  in  Piemont,  when  he  wrote  the  nine 
epistles  which  form  his  "  Deuxieme  Enfer."  We  are  not 
told  whether  he  ever  returned  to  Lyons  publicly,  but  only 
that  he  was  again  apprehended  in  1545,  and  condemned 
to  be  burnt  as  a  heretic,  or  rather  as  an  atheist,  which 
sentence  was  executed  at  Paris,  Aug.  3,  1516.  On  this 
occasion  it  is  said  by  some  that  he  made  profession  of  die 
catholic  faith  by  invoking  the  saints  ;  but  others  doubt  this 
fact.  Whether  pursuant  to  his  sentence,  or  as  a  remission 
of  the  most  horrible  part  of  it,  we  know  not,  but  he  was 
first  strangled,  and  then  burnt.  Authors  diii'er  much  as  to 
the  real  cause  of  his  death  ;  some  attributing  it  to  the  fre- 
quent attacks  he  had  made  on  the  superstitions  and  licen- 
tious lives  of  the  ecclesiastics;  others  to  his  being  a  heretic, 
or  Lutheran  ;  and  others  to  his  impiety,  or  atheism.  Jor- 
tin,  in  his  Life  of  Erasmus,  and  in  his  "  Tracts,"  contends 
for  the  latter,  and  seems  disinclined  to  do  justice  to  Dolec 
in  any  respect.  Dolet  certainly  had  the  art  of  making 
enemies;  he  was  presumptuous,  indiscreet,  and  violent  in 
his  resentments,  but  we  have  no  direct  proof  of  the  cause 
for  which  he  suffered.  On  one  occasion  a  solemn  censure 
was  pronounced  against  him  by  the  assembly  of  divines  at 
Paris,  for  having  inserted  the  following  words  in  a  transla- 
tion of  Plato  VAxiochus,  from  the  Latin  version  into  I'Yench : 
"  Apres  la  mort  tu  tie  seras  rien  clu  tout,"  and  this  is  said 
to  have  produced  his  condemnation  ;  but,  barbarous  as  the 
times  then  were,  we  should  be  inclined  to  doubt  whether 
the  persecutors  would  have  condemned  a  man  or'  acknow- 
ledged learning  and  genius  for  a  single  expression,  and 
that  merely  a  translation.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know 
not  how  to  admit  Dolet  among  the  protestant  martyrs,  as 
Calvin,  and  others  who  lived  at  the  time,  and  must  have 
known  his  character,  represent  him  as  a  man  of  no  religion. 
Dolet  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  restoration  of  classi- 
cal literature  in  France,  and  particularly  to  the  reformation 
of  the  Latin  style,  to  which  he,  had  applied  most  of  his 
attention.  He  appears  to  have  known  little  of  Greek  lite- 
rature but  through  the  medium  of  translations,  and  his 
own  Latin  style  is  by  some  thought  very  laboured,  and 
composed  of  expressions  and. half  sentences,  a  sort  of 


208  D  O  L  E  T. 

cento,  borrowed  from  bis  favourite  Cicero  and  otber 
authors.  He  wrote  much,  considering  that  his  life  was 
short,  and  much  of  it  spent  in  vexatious  removals  and  in 
active  employments.  His  works  are:  l."S.  Doleti  ora- 
tiones  diue  in  Tholosam  ;  ejusdem  epistolarum  hbri  duo  ; 
ejusdem  canninum  libri  duo;  ad  eundem  epistolarum  ami-*' 
corum  liber,"  8vo,  without  date,  but  most  probably  in 
1534,  when  he  had  been  driven  from  Toulouse  and  was  at 
Lyons,  as  mentioned  above.  2.  "  Dialogus  de  imitutione 
Ciceroniana,  adversus  Desiderium  Erasmum  pro  Christo- 
phoro  Longolio,"  Lyons,  1535,  4to.  This  was  an  attack 
on  Erasmus  in  defence  of  Longolius,  in  which  he  had  been 
partly  anticipated  by  Scaliger  in  his  "  O  ratio  pro  Cicerone 
contra  Erasmum."  3.  "  Commentariorum  linguce  Latinse 
tomi  duo,"  Lyons,  1536  and  1588,  fol.  This  is  a  kind  of 
Latin  dictionary,  in  the  manner  of  a  common-place  book, 
and  evidently  a  work  of  great  labour.  He  began  it  in  his 
sixteenth  year.  An  abridgment  of  it  was  published  at 
Basil  in  1537,  8vo.  4.  "  De  re  navali  liber  ad  Lazarum 
Bayfium,"  Lyons,  1537,  4to,  and  inserted  by  Gronovius  in 
vol.  XL  of  his  Greek  antiquities.  5.  "  S.  Doleti  Galli 
Aurelii  Carminum  libri  quatuor,"  printed  by  himself  at 
Lyons,  1538,  4to.  Dolet's  Latin  verses  have  been  too 
much  undervalued  by  Jortin  and  others.  6.  "  Genethliacon 
Claudii  Doleti,  Stephani  Doleti  nlii;  liber  vitae  communi 
in  primis  utilis  et  necessarius;  autore  patre,  Lugduni,  apud 
eundem  Doletum,"  1539,  4to.  A  French  translation  was 
printed  by  the  author  in  the  same  year.  7.  "  Formulas 
Latinarum  locutionum  illustriorum  in  tres  partes  divisae," 
Lyons,  1539,  folio,  and  with  additions  by  Sturmius  and 
Susannasus,  Strasburgh,  1596,  4to.  8.  "  Francisci  Va- 
lesii,  Gallorum  regis,  fata,  ubi  rein  omnem  celebriorem  a 
Gallis  gestam  noscas,  ab  anno  1513  ad  annum  1539,"  Ly- 
ons, 1539,  4to.  This  which  is  in  Latin  verse,  was  trans- 
lated by  the  author  into  French  prose,  and  printed  in  1540, 
4to,  1543,  8vo,  and  Paris,  1546,  8vo.  9.  "  Observationes 
in  Terentii  Andriam  et  Eunuchum,"  Lyons,  1540,  8vo. 
10.  "  La  maniere  de  bien  trad u ire  d'une  langue  en  une 
autre ;  de  la  ponctuation  Francoise,  &c."  Lyons,  1540, 
8vo.  11.  "  Liber  de  imitatione  Ciceroniana  adversus  Flo- 
ridum  Sabinum  ;  Responsio  ad  convitia  ejusdem  Sabini; 
Epigrammata  in  eundem,"  Lyons,  1540,  4to.  Dolet  was 
unfortunately  not  content  with  arguing  with  his  antagonists, 
but  more  frequently  exasperated  them  by  his  sarcastic 


D  O  L  E  T.  209 

attacks.     12.  "  Libri  tres  de  legato,  de  immunitate  legato- 
rum,  et  de  Joannis  Langiachi  Lemovicensis  episcopi  Le- 
gationibus,"  Lyons,  1541,  4to.      13.  "  Les  epitres  et  evan- 
giles  des  cinquante-deux  dimanches,  &,c.   avec  brieve  ex- 
position," Lyons,  1541,   8vo.      14.  A  translation  of  Eras- 
mus's    "  Miles    Christianus,"    Lyons,    1542,     16mo.      15, 
"  Claudii  Cotersei  Turonensis  de  jure  et  privilegiismilitum 
libri  tres,  et  de    officio   imperatoris  liber   unus,"    Lyons, 
1539,  folio.      16.   "  On  Confession,"  translated  from  Eras- 
mus, ibid.   1542,  16mo.      17.   **  Discotirs  contenant  le  seul 
et  vrai  moyen,  par  lequel  un  serviteur  favorise  et  constitue" 
au  service  d'un  prince,  peut  conserver  sa  felicite  eternelle 
et  temporelle,  &c."  Lyons,  1542,  8vo.      18.  "  Exhortation, 
a  la  lecture  des  saintes  lettres,"  ibid.  1542,  16rno.   19.  "  La 
paraphrase  de  Jean  Campensis  sur  les  psalmes  de  David, 
&c.  faite  Frangoise,"  ibid.  1542.     20.   "  Bref  discours  de 
la  republique  Franchise,  desirant  la  lecture  des  livres  de 
la  sainte  ecriture  lui  etre  loisible   en  sa  langue  vulgaire," 
in  verse,  Lyons,  1544,  16mo.     21.  A  translation  of  Plato's 
Axiochus  and  Hipparchus,  Lyons,  1544,  I6mo.     This  was 
addressed  to  Francis  I.  in  a  prose  epistle,  in   which   the 
author  promises  a  translation  of  all  the  works  of  Plato,  ac- 
cuses his  country  of  ingratitude,  and  supplicates  the  king 
to  permit  him  to  return  to  Lyons,  being  now  imprisoned. 
22.  "  Second  Enfer  d'Etienne  Dolet,"  in  French  verse, 
Lyons,  1544,  8vo.     This  consists  of  nine  poetical  letters 
addressed  to   Francis  I.  the  duke  of  Orleans,   the  duchess 
d'Estampes,  the  queen  of  Navarre,  the  cardinal  Lorraine, 
cardinal  Tournon,   the  parliament  of  Paris,   the  judges  of 
Lyons,  and  his  friends.     The  whole  is  a  defence  of  the 
conduct  for  which  he  was  imprisoned  at  Lyons  in  the  be- 
ginning of  1544.     He   had  written  a  first  "  Enfer,"  con- 
sisting of  memorials  respecting  his  imprisonment  at  Paris, 
and  was  about  to  have  published  it  when  he  was  arrested 
at  Lyons,  but  it  never  appeared.     Besides  these,  he  pub- 
lished translations  into  French  of  Cicero's  Tusculan  Ques- 
tions and  his  Familiar  Epistles,  which  went  through  several 
editions.     Almost  all  Dolet's  works  are  scarce,   owing  to 

*  O 

their  having  been  burnt  by  sentence  of  the  divines  of 
Paris,  whose  decisions  on  them  may  be  seen  in  D'Ar- 
gentre's  "  Collectio  judiciorum  de  novis  erroribus."  In 
1779,  M.  Nee,  a  bookseller  at  Paris,  published  a  curious 
Life  of  Dolet,  8vo,  by  an  anonymous  author,  which  we 
VOL.  XII.  P 


210  D  O  L  L  O  N  D. 

have   not   seen,   but   many  additional    particulars   to  our 
sketch  may  be  found  in  our  authorities. ' 

DOLLOND  (JOHN),  an  eminent  optician,  and  the 
inventor  of  the  achromatic  telescope,  was  born  in  Spital- 
fields,  June  10,  1706.  His  parents  were  French  protes- 
tants,  and  at  the  time  of  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantz,  in  1685,  resided  in  Normandy,  but  in  what  par- 
ticular part  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  M.  de  Lalande 
does  not  believe  the  name  to  be  of  French  origin  ;  but, 
however  this  may  be,  the  family  were  compelled  soon  after 
this  period  to  seek  refuge  in  England,  in  order  to  avoid 
persecution,  and  to  preserve  their  religion.  The  fate 
of  this  family  was  not  a  solitary  case  ;  fifty  thousand  persons 
pursued  the  same  measures,  and  we  may  date  from  this 
period  the  rise  of  several  arts  and  manufactures,  which  have 
become  highly  beneficial  to  this  country.  An  establish- 
ment was  given  to  these  refugees,  by  the  wise  policy  of 
our  government,  in  Spitalfields,  and  particular  encourage- 
ment granted  to  the  silk  manufactory. 

The  first  years  of  Mr.  Doliond's  life  were  employed  at 
the  loom  ;  but,  being  of  a  very  studious  and  philosophic 
turn  of  mind,  his  leisure  hours  were  engaged  in  mathe- 
matical pursuits;  and  though  by  the  death  of  his  father, 
which  happened  in  his  infancy,   his  education  gave  way  to 
the  necessities  of  his  family,  yet  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  be- 
fore he  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  works  of  science  or 
elementary  treatises,  he  amused  himself  by  constructing 
sun-dials,   drawing  geometrical  schemes,  and  solving  pro- 
-  blems.     An  early  marriage  and  an  increasing  family  afford- 
ed him  little  opportunity  of  pursuing  his  favourite  studies  : 
but  such  are  the  powers  of  the  human  mind  when  called 
into  action,  that  difficulties,  which  appear  to  the  casual 
observer  insurmountable,   yield   and  retire  before  perse- 
verance and  genius  ;  even  under  the  pressure  of  a  close 
application  to  business  for  the  support  of  his  family,  he 
found  time,  by  abridging  the  hours  of  his  rest,  to  extend 
his   mathematical   knowledge,    and    made    a   considerable 
proficiency  in  optics  and   astronomy,  to   which   he    now 
principally  devoted  his  attention,   having,  in  the  earlier 

1  Moreri. — Niceron,  vol.  XXI. — Gen.  Diet — Baillet  Jngemens. — Clement 
Bib!.  Curieuse. — Joitin's  Erasmus. — Maittaire's  Annales  Typographic!,  vol.  IV. 
— Tliree  letters  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXI.  LX1II.  and'LXIV.— Saxii  Ono- 
masucou. 


D  O  L  L  O  N  D.  211 

stages  of  his  life,  prepared  himself  for  the  higher  parts  qjf 
those  subjects  by  a  perfect  knowledge  of  algebra  and 
geometry. 

Soon  after  this,  without  abating  from  the  ardour  of  his 
other  literary  pursuits,  or  relaxing  from  the  labours  of  his 
profession,  he  began  to  study  anatomy,  and  likewise  to 
read  divinity ;  and  finding  the  knowledge  of  Latin  and 
Greek  indispensably  necessary  towards  attaining  those  ends, 
he  applied  himself  diligently,  and  was  soon  able  to  trans- 
late the  Greek  Testament  into  Latin  ;  and  as  he  admired 
the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  Creator  in  the  mechanism  of 
the  human  frame,  so  he  adored  his  goodness  displayed  in 
his  revealed  word.  It  might  from  hence  be  concluded  that 
his  sabbath  was  devoted  to  retired  reading  and  philoso- 
phical objects ;  but  he  was  not  content  with  private  devo- 
tion, as  he  was  always  an  advocate  for  social  worship,  and 
with  his  family  regularly  attended  the  public  service  of  the 
French  protestant  church,  and  occasionally  heard  Benson 
and  Lardner,  whom  he  respected  as  men,  and  admired  as 
preachers.  In  his  appearance  he  was  grave,  and  the 
strong  lines  of  his  face  were  marked  with  deep  thought 
and  reflection  ;  but  in  his  intercourse  with  his  family  and 
friends,  he  was  cheerful  and  affectionate;  and  his  lan- 
guage and  sentiments  are  distinctly  recollected  as  always 
making  a  strong  impression  on  the  minds  of  those  with 
whom  he  conversed.  His  memory  was  extrordinarily  re- 
tentive ;  an.d  amidst  the  variety  of  his  reading,  he  could 
recollect  and  quote  the  most  important  passages  of  every 
book  which  he  had  at  any  time  perused. 

He  designed  his  eldest  son,  Peter  Dollond,  for  the 
same  business  with  himself;  and  for  several  years  they 
carried  on  their  manufactures  together  in  Spital -fields;  but 
the  employment  neither  suited  the  expectations  nor  dis- 
position of  the  son,  who,  having  received  much  information 
upon  mathematical  and  philosophical  subjects  from  the  in- 
struction of  his  father,  and  observing  the  great  value  which 
was  set  upon  his  father's  knowledge  in  the  theory  of  optics 
by  professional  men,  determined  to  apply  that  knowledge 
to  the  benefit  of  himself  and  his  family  ;  and,  accordingly, 
under  the  directions  of  his  father,  commenced  optician. 
Success,  though  under  the  most  unfavourable  circumstances, 
attended  every  effort;  and  in  1752,  John  Dollond,  em- 
bracing the  opportunity  of  pursuing  a  profession  congenial 
with  his  mind,  and  without  neglecting  the  rule*  of  pr.u- 

P  2 


212  D  O  L  L  O  N  D. 

dence  towards  his  family,  joined  his  son,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  his  theoretical  knowledge,  soon  became  a  pro- 
ficient in  the  practical  parts  of  optics. 

His  first  attention  was  directed  to  improve  the  combina- 
tion of  the  eye-glasses  of  refracting  telescopes  ;  and  having 
succeeded  in  his  system  of  four  eye-glasses,  he  proceeded 
one  step  further,  and  produced  telescopes  furnished  with 
five  eye-glasses,  which  considerably  surpassed  the  former  ; 
and  of  which  he  gave  a  particular  account  in  a  paper  pre- 
sented to  the  royal  society,  and  which  was  read  on  March 
1,  1753,  and  printed  in  the  "  Philosophical  Transactions,'* 
vol.  XLV1II.  Soon  after  this  he  made  a  very  useful  im- 
provement in  Mr.  Savery's  micrometer ;  for,  instead  of 
employing  two  entire  eye-glasses,  as  Mr.  Savery  and  M. 
Bouguer  had  done  (see  BOUGUER),  he  vised  only  one  glass 
cut  into  two  equal  parts,  one  of  them  sliding  or  moving 
laterally  by  the  other.  This  was  considered  to  be  a  great 
improvement,  as  the  micrometer  could  now  be  applied  to 
the  reflecting  telescope  with  much  advantage,  and  which 
Mr.  James  Short  immediately  did.  An  account  of  the 
same  was  given  to  the  royal  society,  in  two  papers,  which 
were  afterwards  printed  in  the  "  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions," vol.  XLVIII.  This  kind  of  micrometer  was  after- 
wards applied  by  Mr.  Peter  Dollond  to  the  achromatic  te- 
lescope, as  appears  by  a  letter  of  his  to  Mr.  Short,  which 
was  read  in  the  royal  society  Feb.  7,  1765. 

Mr.  Dollond's  celebrity  in  optics  became  now  universal ; 
and  the  friendship  and  protection  of  the  most  eminent  men 
of  science,  tiattered  and  encouraged  his  pursuits.  To 
enumerate  the  persons,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  who 
distinguished  him  by  their  correspondence,  or  cultivated 
his  acquaintance,  however  honourable  to  his  memory, 
would  be  only  an  empty  praise.  Yet  among  those  who 
held  the  highest  place  in  his  esteem  as  men  of  worth  and 
learning,  may  be  mentioned,  Mr.  Thomas  Simpson,  master 
of  the  royal  academy  at  Woolwich  ;  Mr.  Harris,  assny- 
master  at  the  Tower,  who  was  at  that  time  engaged  in 
writing  and  publishing  his  "  Treatise  on  Optics;"  the  rev. 
Dr.  Bradley,  then  astronomer  royal;  the  rev.  William 
Ludlam,  of  St.  John's  college,  Cambridge  ;  and  Mr.  John 
Canton,  a  most  ingenious  man,  and  celebrated  not  less. 
for  his  knowledge  in  natural  philosophy,  than  for  his  neat 
and  accurate  manner  of  making  philosophical  experiments. 
To  this  catalogue  of  the  philosophical  names  of  those  days, 


DOLLOND.  213 

xve  may  add  that  of  the  late  venerable  astronomer-royal, 
the  rev.  Dr.  Maskelyne,  whose  labours  have  so  eminently 
benefited  the  science  of  astronomy. 

Surrounded  by  these  enlightened  men,  in  a  state  of  mind 
prepared  for  the  severest  investigation  of  philosophic  truths, 
and  in  circumstances  favourable  to  liberal  inquiry,  Mr. 
Dollond  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  a  subject,  which  at 
that  time  not  only  interested  this  country,  but  all  Europe. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  had  declared,  in  his  Treatise  on  Optics, 
p.  112,  "  That  all  refracting  substances  diverged  the  pris- 
matic colours  in  a  constant  proportion  to  their  mean  re- 
fraction," and  drew  this  conclusion,  "  that  refraction  could 
not  be  produced  without  colour,"  and  consequently,  "  that 
no  improvement  could  be  expected  in  the  refracting  tele- 
scope." No  one  doubted  the  accuracy  with  which  sir 
Isaac  Newton  had  made  the  experiment ;  yet  some  men, 
particularly  M.  Euler  and  others,  were  of  opinion  that  the 
conclusion  which  Newton  had  drawn  from  it  went  too  far, 
and  maintained  that  in  very  small  angles  refraction  might 
be  obtained  without  colour.  Mr.  Dollond  was  not  of  that 
opinion,  but  defended  Newton's  doctrine  with  much  learn- 
ing and  ingenuity,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the 
letters  which  passed  between  Euler  and  Dollond  upon  that 
occasion,  and  which  were  published  in  the  "  Philosophical 
Transactions,"  vol.  XLVIII. ;  and  contended,  that,  "  if  the 
result  of  the  experiment  had  been  as  described  by  sir 
Isaac  Newton,  there  could  not  be  refraction  without  co- 
lour," 

A  mind  constituted  like  Mr.  Dollond' s,  could  not  re- 
main satisfied  with  arguing  in  this  manner,  from  an  expe- 
riment made  b}  another,  but  determined  to  try  it  himself, 
and  accordingly  in  1757  began  the  examination  ;  and,  to 
use  his  own  words,  with  "  a  resolute  perseverance,"  con- 
tinued during  that  year,  and  a  great  part  of  the  next,  to 
bestow  his  whole  mind  on  the  subject,  until  in  June  1758 
he  found,  after  a  complete  course  of  experiments,  the 
result  to  be  very  different  from  that  which  he  expected, 
and  from  that  which  sir  Isaac  Newton  had  related.  He 
discovered  "  the  difference  in  the  dispersion  of  the  colours 
ot  light,  when  the  mean  rays  are  equally  refracted  by  diffe- 
rent mediums."  The  discovery  was  complete,  and  he  imme- 
diately drew  from  it  this  practical  conclusion, "  that  the  object- 
glasses  of  refracting  telescopes  were  capable  of  being  made 
without  the  images  formed  by  them  being  affected  by  the 


214  DOLLOND. 

different  refrangibility  of  the  rays  of  light."  His  account  of 
this  experiment,  and  of  others  connected  with  it,  was  given 
to  the  royal  society,  and  printed  in  their  Transactions,  vol.  L. 
and  he  was  presented  in  the  same  year,  by  that  learned 
body,  with  sir  Godfrey  Copley's  medal,  as  a  reward  of  his 
merit,  and  a  memorial  of  the  discovery,  though  not  at  that 
time  a  member  of  the  society.  This  discovery  no  way  af- 
fected the  points  in  dispute  between  Euler  and  Dollond, 
respecting  the  doctrine  advanced  by  sir  Isaac  Newton.  A 
new  principle  was  in  a  manner  found  out,  which  had  no 
part  in  their  former  reasonings,  and  it  was  reserved  for 
the  accuracy  of  Dollond  to  have  the  honour  of  making  a 
discovery  which  had  eluded  the  observation  of  the  immortal 
Newton.  The  cause  of  this  difference  of  the  results  of  the 
8th  experiment  of  the  second  part  of  the  first  book  of  New- 
ton's Optics,  as  related  by  himself,  and  as  it  was  found 
when  tried  by  Dollond  in  1757  and  1758,  is  fully  and  in- 
geniously accounted  for  by  Mr.  Peter  Dollond  in  a  paper 
read  at  the  royal  society,  March  21,  .1789,  and  afterwards 
published  in  a  pamphlet. 

This  new  principle  being  now  established,  he  was  soon 
able  to  construct  object-glasses,  in  which  the  different  re- 
frangibility of  the  rays  of  light  was  corrected,  and  the  name 
of  achromatic  was  given  to  them  by  the  late  Dr.  Bevis,  on 
account  of  their  being  free  from  the  prismatic  colours, 
and  not  by  Lalande,  as  some  have  said.  As  usually  hap- 
pens on  such  occasions,  no  sooner  was  the  achromatic  te- 
lescope made  public,  than  the  rivalship  of  foreigners,  and 
the  jealousy  of  philosophers  at  home,  led  them  to  dftubt  of 
its  reality  ;  and  Euler  himself,  in  his  paper  read  before 
the  academy  of  sciences  at  Berlin  in  1764,  says,  "  I  am 
not  ashamed  frankly  to  avow  that  the  first  accounts  which 
were  published  of  it  appeared  so  suspicious,  and  even  so 
contrary  to  the  best  established  principles,  that  I  could  not 
prevail  upon  myself  to  give  credit  to  them;"  and  he  adds, 
*'  I  should  never  have  submitted  to  the  proofs  which  Mr. 
Dollond  produced  to  support  this  strange  phenomenon,  if 
M.  Clairaut,  who  must  at  first  have  been  equally  surprized 
at  it,  had  not  most  positively  assured  me  that  Dpllond's 
experiments  were  but  too  well  founded."  And  when  the 
fact  could  be  no  longer  disputed,  they  endeavoured  to 
find  a  prior  inventor,  to  whom  it  might  be  ascribed  ;  and 
several  conjecturers  were  honoured  with  the  title  of  dis- 
coverers. But  Mr.  Peter  Dollond  in  the  paper  we  have 


D  O  L  L  O  N  D.  215 

just  mentioned,  has  stated  and  vindicated,  in  the  most  un- 
exceptionable and  convincing  mamier,  his  father's  right 
to  the  first  discovery  of  this  improvement  in  refracting  te- 
lescopes, as  well  as  of  the  principle  on  which  it  was 
founded.  In  so  doing  he  has  corrected  the  mistakes  of 
M.  de  la  Lande  in  his  account  of  this  subject ;  those  of 
M.  N.  Fuss,  professor  of  mathematics  at  St.  Petersburg, 
in  his  "  Eulogy  on  Euler,"  written  and  published  in  1783  ; 
and  those  of  count  Cassini,  in  his  "  Extracts  of  the  Ob- 
servations made  at  the  Royal  Observatory  at  Paris  in  the 
year  1787;"  and  it  must  appear  to  every  impartial  and 
candid  examiner,  that  Mr.  Dollond  was  the  sole  discoverer 
of  the  principle  which  led  to  the  improvement  of  refracting 
telescopes. 

This  improvement  was  of  the  greatest  advantage  in  as- 
tronomy, as  they  have  been  applied  to  fixed  instruments ; 
by  which  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  are  deter- 
mined to  a  much  greater  exactness  than  by  the  means  of 
the  old  telescope.  Navigation  has  also  been  much  bene- 
fited by  applying  achromatic  telescopes  to  the  Hadley's 
Sextant ;  and  from  the  improved  state  of  the  lunar  tables, 
and  of  that  instrument,  the  longitude  at  sea  may  now  be 
determined  by  good  observers,  to  a  great  degree  of  accu- 
racy ;  and  their  universal  adoption  by  the  navy  and  army, 
as  well  as  by  the  public  in  general,  is  the  best  proof  of  the 
great  utility  of  the  discovery. 

In  the  beginning  of  1761,  Mr.  Dollond  was  elected 
F.  R.  S.  and  appointed  optician  to  his  majesty,  but  did 
not  live  to  enjoy  these  honours  long;  for  on  Nov.  30,  in 
the  same  year,  as  he  was  reading  a  new  publication  of  M. 
Clairaut,  on  the  theory  of  the  moon,  and  on  which  he  had 
been  intently  engaged  for  several  hours,  he  was  seized 
with  apoplexy,  which  rendered  him  immediately  speech- 
less, and  occasioned  his  death  in  a  few  hours  afterwards. 
His  family,  at  his  death,  consisted  of  three  daughters  and 
two  sons,  Peter  and  John,  who,  possessing  their  father's 
abilities,  carried  on  the  optical  business  in  partnership, 
until  the  death  of  John,  when  it  was  continued,  and  still 
flourishes,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Peter  Dollond, 
well  known  as  an  able  philosopher  and  artist,  and  Mr.  George 
Huggins,  his  nephew,  who,  upon  the  king's  permission, 
has  taken  the  name  of  Dollond.1 

1  From  the  Life  of  John  Dollond,  F.  R.  S.  by  John  Kelly,   LL.  D.  rector  of 
Copford,    in  Essex ;  author  of  the  Triglott  Celtic  Dictionary,  and  a  translator 


216  D  O  L  O  M  I  E  U. 

DOLMAN.     See  PARSONS  (ROBKRT). 

DOLOMIEU  (DEODATI--GUY-SILVAIN-TANCRED  GRA- 
TET  DE),  a  very  able  mineralogist,  was  born  in  Dauphiny, 
June  24,  1750.  Of  his  early  history  our  authorities  give 
but  a  confused  account.  He  was  inspector  of  the  mines, 
and  commander  of  the  order  of  Malta.  He  first  went  to 
sea  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  being  insulted  by  one  of 
his  companions,  who  was  on  board  the  same  ship,  he  fought 
and  killed  him  ;  for  which,  on  his  return  to  Malta,  he  was 
sentenced  to  death  by  the  chapter  of  the  order.  The 
grand-master,  however,  granted  him  his  pardon,  but  as  it 
was  necessary  that  it  should  be  confirmed  by  the  pope,  and 
as  his  holiness  was  at  that  time  out  of  humour  with  the 
knights,  he  remained  inflexible,  and  Dolomieu  was  con- 
fined for  nine  months  in  a  dungeon  in  the  island.  He  af- 
terwards resumed  his  studies,  and  accompanied  the  regi- 
ment of  carabineers  in  which  he  was  an  officer.  At  Metz 
he  took  his  first  lessons  in  chemistry  and  natural  history, 
and  his  progress  became  so  rapid,  that  the  academy  of 
sciences  granted  him  the  title  of  corresponding  member, 
which  favour  attached  him  entirely  to  natural  philosophy. 
He  then  quitted  the  service,  and  almost  immediately  be- 
gan his  travels  through  Sicily,  which  produced  "  Voyage 
aux  Isles  de  Lipari,"  1783,  8vo ;  a  very  interesting  ac- 
count of  these  volcanic  isles,  and  forming  very  useful  ma- 
terials for  a  history  of  volcanoes.  In  the  same  year  he 
published  "  Memoire  sur  le  tremblemens  de  terre  de  la 
Calabre  in  1783,"  8vo,  which  the  following  year  was  trans- 
lated into  Italian;  and  in  1788,  "Memoire  sur  les  isles 
Ponces,  et  Catalogue  raisonne  de  PEtna,"  8vo. 

On  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  he  embraced 
the  principles  of  the  popular  party,  but  refusing  any  public 
employment,  pursued  his  favourite  studies.  In  the  "Jour- 
nal de  Physique,"  for  1790,  we  find  a  dissertation  by  him 
on  the  origin  of  basaltes  ;  and  he  prepared  the  mineralo- 
gical  articles  of  the  new  Encyclopaedia.  The  revolutionary 
horrors,  which  were  fatal  to  his  friend  the  duke  de  Roche- 
foucault,  who  was  murdered  before  his  eyes,  had  likely 
to  have  been  equally  fatal  to  himself,  his  name  being  in- 
serted in  the  lists  of  the  proscribed  by  the  tyrants  of  the 

of  the  Bible  into  the  Manks  Gaelic.  Dr.  Krlly  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Peter 
Dolloml.  This  Life  wos  printed  for  private  distribution  by  Messrs.  Dollond, 
and  obligingly  presented  to  the  Editor  of  this  Dictionary  by  Mr.  G.  H.  Dollond. 
Besides  the  Life,  there  is  an  Appendix  of  various  iroportaril  papers  relating  to 
the  discovery  aud  uses  of  the  achromatic  telescope. 


D  O  L  O  M  I  E  U.  217 

day  ;  but  he  escaped  by  wandering  from  place  to  place, 
until  calmer  times,  when  he  was  appointed  inspector  of 
the  mines,  and  at  length  Bonaparte  took  him  with  him  in 
his  expedition  to  Egypt.  He  is  said  to  have  contributed 
to  the  surrender  of  Malta  to  the  French,  by  the  connec- 
tions which  he  still  preserved  there;  but  after  the  memo- 
rable battle  of  Aboukir,  when  obliged  to  land  in  Calabria, 
he  was  seized  by  order  of  the  king  of  Naples,  and  thrown 
into  a  dungeon  at  Messina.  Here  he  was  detained,  not- 
withstanding the  earnest  applications  of  the  French  go- 
vernment, the  king  of  Spain,  sir  Joseph  Banks,  and  other 
eminent  characters  in  Europe,  nor  was  he  released  until 
the  peace  of  1800.  He  then  resumed  his  wonted  occu- 
pations, visited  the  mountains  of  Swisserland,  and  was 
about  to  have  published  the  result  of  his  observations, 
when  he  died  Nov.  28,  1801,  at  Dree,  near  Macon.  He 
had  been  appointed  member  of  the  conservative  senate 
immediately  after  his  return,  and  was  a  member  of  the  In- 
stitute. After  his  death  was  published  his  essay  "  Sur  la 
philosophic  mineralogique,"  composed  during  his  impri- 
sonment at  Malta,  where  such  were  his  privations,  that, 
as  he  informs  us,  the  black  of  his  lamp,  diluted  with  water, 
served  him  for  ink;  his  pen  was  a  fragment  of  bone,  shaped 
with  great  labour  on  the  floor  of  his  prison,  and  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  his  work  was  written  on  the  margins,  and  be- 
tween the  lines  of  some  books  which  bad  been  left  in  his 
possession.  These  contrivances  gave  him  the  pleasure 
which  is  felt  on  overcoming  difficulties;  and  he  adds,  that 
had  it  not  been  that  he  found  himself  placed  in  such  a  si- 
tuation, perhaps  he  never  would  have  undertaken  this  work 
at  all.  His  last  journey  to  the  Alps  was  lately  published 
by  Bruun  Neergaard,  in  8vo. l 

DOMAT  (JoHN),  a  French  lawyer,  was  born  of  a  good 
family,  at  Clermont,  in  Auvergne,  in  1625.  Father  Sir- 
mood,  who  was  his  great  uncle,  had  the  care  of  his  educa- 
tion, and  sent  him  to  the  college  at  Paris,  where  he  learned 
the  Latin,  Greek,  Italian,  and  Spanish  tongues,  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  philosophy  and  the  belles-lettres, 
and  made  himself  a  competent  master  in  the  mathematics. 
Afterwards  he  went  to  study  the  law,  and  to  take  his  de- 
grees at  Bourges,  where  professor  Emerville  made  him  an 
offer  of  a  doctor's  hood,  though  he  was  but  twenty  years  of 
age.  Upon  his  return  from  Bourges,  he  attended  the  bar  of 

1  Diet.  Hist. — Biographic  Moderne. 


218  D  O  M  A  T. 

the  high  court  of  judicature  at  Clermont,  and  began  to  plead 
with  extraordinary  success.  In  1648  he  married,  and  by 
that  marriage  had  thirteen  children.  Three  years  before  he 
had  been  made  advocate  to  the  king,  in  the  high  court  of 
Clermont ;  which  place  he  filled  for  thirty  years  with  such 
uncommon  reputation  for  integrity  as  well  as  ability,  that  he 
became  arbiter,  in  a  great  measure,  of  all  the  affairs  of  the 
province.  The  confusion  which  he  had  observed  in  the  laws, 
put  him  upon  forming  a  design  of  reducing  them  to  their 
natural  order.  He  drew  up  a  plan  for  this  purpose,  and  com- 
municated it  to  his  friends,  who  approved  of  it  so  much,  and 
thought  it  so  useful,  that  they  persuaded  him  to  shew  it  to 
some  of  the  chief  magistrates.  With  this  view  he  went  to 
Paris  in  1685,  where  the  specimen  of  his  work,  which  he 
carried  along  with  him,  wras  judged  to  be  so  excellent,  that 
Lewis  XIV.  upon  the  report  which  Pelletier,  then  comp- 
troller general,  made  to  him  of  it,  ordered  Domat  to  con- 
tinue at  Paris,  and  settled  upon  him  a  pension  of  2000 
livres.  Henceforward  he  employed  himself  at  Paris,  in 
finishing  and  perfecting  his  work ;  the  first  volume  of  which, 
in  4to,  was  published  there,  under  the  title  of  "  Les  Lois 
civiles,  dans  leur  ordre  naturel,"  1689.  Three  other 
volumes  were  published  afterwards,  which  did  their  author 
the  highest  honour ;  who,  upon  the  publication  of  the  first, 
was  introduced  by  Pelletier,  to  present  it  to  the  king.  It 
was  usual  to  recommend  this  work  to  young  lawyers  and 
divines,  who  wished  to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of 
morality  and  the  civil  law;  and  an  improved  edition  was 
published  so  recently  as  1777.  It  was  also  translated  and 
published  in  English  by  Dr.  William  Strahan,  1720,  2  vols. 
fol.  and  reprinted  and  enlarged  in  1741.  His  "  Legum 
Delectus,"  which  is  a  part  of  this  great  work,  was  printed 
separately,  and  very  elegantly  by  Wetstein  ;  and  in  1806, 
M.  d'Agard  published  the  first  volume  of  a  translation  of 
this  "  Delectus,"  with  notes,  &c. 

Domat  died  at  Paris  Mar.  14,  1696.  He  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  celebrated  Pascal,  who  was  his  coun- 
tryman, and  with  whom  he  had  many  conferences  upon 
religious  subjects.  He  used  also  to  make  experiments 
with  him  upon  the  weight  of  the  air,  and  in  other  branches 
of  natural  philosophy.  He  was  at  Paris  when  Pascal  died 
there  Aug.  19,  1662,  and  was  entrusted  by  him  with  his. 
most  secret  papers.1 

1  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist. 


D  O  M  B  E  Y.  219 

DOMBEY  (JOSEPH),  an  eminent  French  botanist  and 
traveller,  was  born  at  Macon,  Feb.  22,  1742.  He  was 
brought  up  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and  took  the  de- 
gree of  doctor  of  physic  in  the  university  of  Montpellier. 
He  there  imbibed,  under  the  celebrated  professor  Gouan, 
a  taste  for  natural  history,  more  especially  for  botany. 
To  this  taste  he  sacrificed  his  profession,  and  all  prospect 
of  emolument  from  that  source,  and  cultivated  no  studies 
but  such  as  favoured  his  darling  propensity.  Whatever 
time  was  not  devoted  to  that,  was  given  to  the  pleasures 
and  dissipation  incident  to  his  time  of  life,  his  gay  and 
agreeable  character,  and  the  society  with  which  he  was 
surrounded.  To  this  dissipation  he  perhaps  sacrificed 
more  than  prudence  could  justify  ;  and  it  was  fortunate  for 
his  moral  character  and  worldly  interest,  probably  also  for 
his  scientific  success,  that  he  removed  to  Paris  in  1772,  to 
improve  his  botanical  knowledge.  In  1775,  while  re- 
turning from  a  visit  to  Haller  at  Berne,  he  was  informed 
that  M.  Turgot,  the  French  minister,  had  chosen  him  to 
go  to  Peru,  in  search  of  plants  that  might  be  naturalized 
in  Europe.  On  this  he  immediately  returned  to  Paris, 
was  presented  to  the  minister,  and  received  his  appoint- 
ment, with  a  salary  of  3000  livres.  Part  of  this  was  obliged 
to  be  mortgaged  to  pay  his  debts,  and  he  was  detained  until 
the  Spanish  court  had  consented  to  the  undertaking,  which 
was  not  until  next  year.  On  arriving  at  Madrid,  in  No- 
vember 1776,  he  found  that  the  Spanish  court  had  encum- 
bered his  expedition  with  futile  instructions,  and  had  added 
four  companions,  who,  although  of  very  little  use,  had  each 
a  salary  of  10,000  livres.  He  accomplished  his  voyage, 
however,  in  six  months,  arriving  at  Lima  April  8,  1778, 
where  he  obtained  a  favourable  reception  from  the  vice- 
roy of  Peru,  Don  Emanuel  de  Guirrior,  and  from  M.  de 
Bordenave,  one  of  the  canons  of  Lima. 

His  first  botanical  expedition  towards  Quito  was  not  with- 
out danger,  from  hordes  of  run-away  negroes,  but  it  af- 
forded him  an  abundant  harvest  of  specimens  of  plants, 
as  well  as  of  antiquities  from  the  sepulchres  of  the  ancient 
Peruvians.  These,  with  thirty-eight  pounds  of  platina, 
and  a  collection  of  seeds,  he  sent  immediately  to  Europe, 
He  was  also  employed  by  the  viceroy  to  analyse  some 
mineral  waters  in  that  neighbourhood.  He  afterwards 
settled  for  a  time  in  the  mountainous  province  of  Tarma, 
beyond  the  Cordilleras,  and  in  May  1780,  visited  Huanuco, 
the  extremity  of  the  Spanish  settlements  in  that  direction. 


-20  D  O  M  B  E  Y. 

To  investigate  the  vast  and  almost  impervious  forests  }•••• 
yond,  swarming  with  insects,  and  filled  with  stagnant 
pestiferous  vapours,  proved  a  labour  of  no  less  danger  than 
difficulty ;  not  only  from  these  natural  impediments,  but 
from  the  savages,  200  of  whom  were  advancing  by  night 
to  plunder  them,  had  they  not  escaped  by  a  precipitate 
and  perilous  retreat  to  Huanuco.  From  thence  Dombey 
returned  alone  to  Lima,  where,  although  he  x\vas  much 
discouraged  by  the  ignorance  and  bigotry  of  the  Spanish 
priests,  he  met  with  some  enlightened  and  disinterested 
characters,  who  could  appreciate  his  merit,  and  rendered 
him,  from  time  to  time,  the  most  essential  services. 

Having  sent  off  his  second  collection  to  Europe,  Dom- 
bey returned  to  Huanuco,  in  the  end  of  December  1780, 
where  he  had  shortly  after  the  mortification  of  hearing  that 
his  first  collection  had  been  taken  by  the  English,  and  re- 
deemed at  Lisbon,  by  the  Spanish  government,  conse- 
quently that  the  antiquities  were  now  detained  in  Spain, 
and  that  duplicates  only  of  the. dried  plants  and  seeds  had 
been  forwarded  to  Paris.  Dombey  in  the  mean  while, 
leaving  his  more  recent  acquisitions  in  safety  at  Lima,  un- 
dertook a  journey  to  Chili,  and  although  his  journey  was 
necessarily  attended  with  vast  expence,  his  character  was 
now  so  well  known,  that  he  readily  met  with  assistance. 
He  arrived  at  La  Conception  in  the  beginning  of  1782, 
where,  the  town  being  afflicted  with  a  pestilential  fever, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  exercise  of  his  medical  skill,  as- 
sisting the  poor  with  advice,  food,  and  medicine.  This 
example  having  the  effect  to  restore  the  public  courage, 
the  grateful  people  wished  to  retain  him,  with  a  handsome 
stipend,  as  their  physician  ;  and  the  bishop  of  La  Con- 
ception endeavoured  to  promote  his  union  with  a  young 
lady  of  great  beauty  and  riches,  on  whom  his  merit  had 
made  impressions  as  honourable  to  herself  as  to  him  ;  but 
neither  of  these  temptations  prevailed.  Having  added 
greatly  to  his  collection  of  drawings,  shells,  and  minerals, 
as  welt  as  of  plants,  and  having  discovered  a  new  and  most 
valuable  mine  of  quicksilver,  and  another  of  gold,  he  re- 
visited Lima,  to  take  his  passage  for  Europe.  A  journey 
of  100  leagues  among  the  Cordilleras,  made  at  his  own 
expence,  had  much  impaired  his  finances  and  his  health, 
but  he  refused  the  repayment  which  the  country  offered 
him,  saying,  that  "  though  he  was  devoted  to  the  service 
of  Spain,  it  was  for  his  own  sovereign,  who  had  sent  him, 
to  pay  his  expences."  In  Chili  he  discovered  the  majestic 


D  O  M  B  E  Y.  221 

tree,  of  the  tribe  of  Pines,  150  feet  high,  now  named  after 
him,   Dombeya,  of  which  the  Norfolk-island  pine   is   ano- 
ther species.     While  he  still  remained  at  Lima,  the  la- 
bours of  arranging  and  packing  his  collections  of  natural 
history,  added  to  the  fatigues  he  had  already  undergone, 
and  the  petty  jealousies  and  contradictions  he  experienced 
from  some   of  the   Spaniards   in   power,  preyed  upon  his 
health  and  spirits  ;  and  under  the  idea  that  he  might  pos- 
sibly never  reach  Europe,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Thouin, 
to  take  the  necessary  precautions   for  the    safety  of   his 
treasures  on  their  arrival  in  a  Spanish  port.     He  survived, 
however,  to  undergo  far  greater  distresses   than   he  had 
yet  known.     After   narrowly  escaping  shipwreck  at  Cape 
Horn,    and   being  obliged  to  wait  at  the   Brasils  till   his 
ship  could  be  refitted,   which  last  circumstance  indeed  was 
favourable  to  his  scientific  pursuits  and  acquisitions,    he 
reached  Cadiz  on  the  22d  of  February,  1785;  but,  instead 
of  the  reception  he  expected  and  deserved,  he  was  not 
only  tormented  with  the  most  pettifogging  and  dishonest 
behaviour  concerning  the  property  of  his  collections,   but 
those  collections  were  exposed,  without  discrimination  or 
precaution,  to  the  rude  and  useless  scrutiny  of  the  barba- 
rians at  the  custom-house,  so  as  to  be  rendered  useless,  in 
a  great  measure,  even  to  those  who  meant  to  plunder  them. 
The  whole  were  thrown  afterwards  into  damp  warehouses, 
where  their  true  owner  was  forbidden  to  enter.      Here 
they  lay  for  the  plants  to  rot,  and  the  inestimable  collec- 
tions of  seeds  to  lose  their  powers  of  vegetation,  till  certain 
forms  were  gone  through,  which  forms,  as   it  afterwards 
appeared,  tended  chiefly  to  the  rendering  their  plunder 
useless  to  others,  rather  than  valuable  to  their  own  nation. 
In  the  first  place,  as  much  of  these  treasures  had  suffered 
by  this  ill-treatment,   Dombey  was  required  to  repair  the 
injury  from  his  own  allotment,  or  from  that  of  his  master, 
the  king  of  France.     With  this  he   could   not   of  himself 
comply  ;  but  an  order  was,  for  some  political  reason,  pro- 
cured from  the  French  court,  and  he  was  obliged   to  sub- 
mit.     He  could   never,    however,    obtain   that   the  seeds 
should  be  committed  to  the  earth  so  as  to  be  of  use;  and 
hence  the  gardens  of  Europe   have   been   enriched  with 
scarcely  half  a  score  of  his   botanical  discoveries,  among 
which  are  the  magnificent  Datura  arborea,  the  beautiful 
Salvia  formosa,  and  the  fragrant  Verbena  triphylla,  or,  as 
it  ought  to  have  been  called,  citrea.     This  last  will  be  a 


222  D  O  JVI  B  E  Y. 

*'  monumentum  sere  perennins"  with  those  who  shall  ever 
know  his  history.  What  had  been  given  him  for  his  own 
use  hy  the  vice-roy  of  the  Brasils,  underwent  the  same 
treatment  as  the  rest.  Finally,  he  was  required  to  fix  a 
price  upon  the  sad  remains  of  his  collections,  which,  as  a 
great  part  was  French  national  property,  it  was  obvious  he 
could  not  do.  He  remained  at  Cadiz,  without  money  and 
without  friends.  His  only  hope  was  that  he  might  here- 
after publish  his  discoveries,  so  as  to  secure  some  benefit 
to  the  world  and  some  honour  to  himself.  But  this  last 
consolation  was  denied  him.  Anxious  to  revisit  his  native 
land,  he  would  have  compounded  for  his  liberty  with  the 
loss  of  all  but  his  manuscripts  ;  but  he  was  not  allowed  to 
depart  until  his  persecutors  had  copied  all  those  manu- 
scripts, and  bound  him  by  a  written  promise  never  to  pub- 
lish any  thing  till  the  return  of  his  travelling  companions. 
In  the  mean  while,  those  very  companions  were  detained 
by  authority  in  Peru;  and  in  after-times  the  original  bo- 
tanical descriptions  of  Dombey  have,  many  of  them,  ap- 
peared verbatim,  without  acknowledgment,  in  the  pompous 
Flora  of  Peru  and  Chili,  which  thence  derives  a  great  part 
of  its  value.  Thus  chagrined  and  oppressed,  the  unhappy 
Dombey  sunk  into  despair,  till,  no  longer  useful  or  for- 
midable to  his  oppressors,  he  was  allowed  to  return,  with 
such  parts  of  his  collections  as  they  condescended  to  leave 
him,  to  Paris. 

There  our  countryman  Dr.  Smith  knew  him  in  1786  ; 
no  longer  the  handsome  lively  votary  of  pleasure,  nor  even 
the  ardent  enthusiastic  cultivator  of  science,  but  presenting 
the  sallow,  silent,  melancholy  aspect  of  depression  and 
disappointment.  He  chiefly  associated  with  his  faithful 
friends,  Le  Monnier  and  Thouin,  and  in  their  society  bo- 
tanical converse  still  retained  its  charms.  To  the  contents 
of  his  own  collection,  which,  however  injured  and  dimi- 
nished, was  still  a  very  interesting  one,  he  paid  little  atten- 
tion. Bound  by  his  promise,  his  high  sense  of  honour 
would  not  let  him  make  the  proper  use  of  it,  but  at  length 
he  was  induced  to  part  with  it  to  M.  de  Buffon,  who  nobly 
exerted  himself  so  as  to  procure  from  government  a  pen- 
sion of  6000  livres  for  Dombey,  and  60,000  livres  to  pay 
his  debts.  The  herbarium  was  confided  to  M.  L'Heritier, 
with  orders  to  publish  its  contents.  This  was  no  sooner 
known  at  Madrid,  than  interest  was  made  by  that  court  to 
defeat  the  measure,  and  the  court  of  Versailles  was  not 


D  O  M  B  E  Y.  223 

in  a  condition  to  dispute  even  so  unjust  and  politically 
unimportant  a  requisition  from  that  quarter.  Buffon  had 
orders  to  withdraw  the  herharium,  but  L'Heritier  on  the 
first  alarm  had  taken  it  over  to  London,  and  Dr.  Smith 
with  his  lamented  friend  Broussonet,  and  his  draughtsman 
Redoute",  were  alone  entrusted  with  the  secret.  Happy 
and  safe  in  a  land  of  liberty  and  science,  L'Heritier  re- 
mained about  fifteen  months  devoted  to  the  prosecution  of 
his  object,  chiefly  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  '.is  friend 
sir  Joseph  Banks. 

After  his  return,  he  had  determined  to  retire  to  a  peace- 
ful retreat  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Jura,  where  he  had  a  friend 
devoted  to  the  love  and  cultivation  of  plants.     His  pecu- 
niary circumstances  were  now  easy,  and   he  resigned  his 
fatal  celebrity  without  regret.     He  broke  oft'  all  scientific 
communication,  except  with  M.  Pavon,  one  of  his  fellow- 
labourers  in  Peru,   and  who  had  all  along  been  innocent  of 
the   execrable   machinations  against    his   honour  and    his 
peace.     He  refused  a  place   in   the  French  academy  of 
sciences,  as  well  as  a  large  pecuniary  offer  from  the  em- 
press of  Russia  for  the  duplicates  of  his  collection,  saying, 
"  he  was  not  in  want  of  money,  and  he  had  most  pleasure 
in  distributing  his   specimens  amongst  his  friends."     Re- 
siding at  Lyons  for  some  time,  in  his  way  towards  Switzer- 
land, he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  present  during  the  siege 
of  that  town  ;  but  sickening  at  the  sight  of  public  miseries 
on  every  side,  he  procured  a  commission   to  visit  North 
America,  in  order  to  purchase  corn  from  the  United  States, 
and  to  fulfil  some  other  objects  of  public  importance,  es- 
pecially relating  to  science  and  commerce.      A  tempest 
obliged  him  to  take  shelter  at  Guadaloupe,  but  that  island 
being,  like  the  mother  country,  in  a  state  of  revolution,  he 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  and  after  much  barbarous 
treatment,  was  ordered  to  quit  the  colony  in  the  American 
vessel  in  which  he  came.     That  vessel  was  no  sooner  out 
of  the  harbour,  than  it  was  attacked  by  two  privateers,  and 
taken.     Dombey,  disguised  as  a  Spanish  sailor,  was  thrown 
into  a  prison  in  the  island   of  Montserrat,  where  ill-treat, 
ment,  mortification,  and  disease,  put  a  period  to  his  life 
on  the  19th  of  February,  1796. ' 

DOMENICHINO,  or  DOMENICO  ZAMPIERI,a  very 
much  admired  artist,  was  born  at  Bologna  in  1581,  and 

*  O  ' 

1  R«es's  Cyclopaedia, 


224.  D  O  M  E  N  I  C  H  I  N  O. 

received  his  first  instruction  in   the  art   of  painting,   from 
Denis  Calvart ;   but  afterwards  he  became  a  disciple  of  the 
Caracci,    and    continued  in   that  school  for  a  long   time. 
The  great  talents  of  Domenichino  did  not  unfold   them- 
selves as  early  in  him,  as  talents  much  inferior  to  his  have 
disclosed  themselves   in  other  painters;  he  was  studious, 
thoughtful,  and  circumspect;    which  by  some  writers,  as 
well  as   by  his  companions,   was  misunderstood,   and  mis- 
called dullness.     But  the  intelligent  Annibal  Caracci,  who 
observed   his   faculties   with  more  attention,  and  knew  his 
abilities  better,  testified  of  Domenichino,  that  his  apparent 
slowness  of  parts  at  present,  would  in  time  produce  what 
would  be  an  honour  to  the  art  of  painting.     He  persevered 
in  the  study  of  his  art  with  incredible  application  and  at- 
tention, and    daily  made   rapid    advances.     Some  writers 
contend  that  his  thoughts  were  judicious  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  they  were  afterwards  elevated,  wanting  but  little 
of  reaching  the  sublime;  and  that  whoever  will  consider 
the  composition,  the  design,  and   the   expression,    in  his 
Adam  and  Eve,  his  Communion  of  St.  Jerom,   and  in  that 
admirable  picture  of  the  Death  of  St.  Agnes  at  Bologna, 
will  readily  perceive  that  they  must  have  been   the  result 
of  genius,  as  well  as  of  just  reflections  ;  but  Mr.  De  Piles 
says  he  is  in  doubt  whether  Domenichino  had  any  genius 
or  not.     That  ingenious  writer  seems  willing  to  attribute 
every  degree  of  excellence  in  Domenichino's  performances, 
to  labour,  or  fatigue,  or  good  sense,  or  any  thing  but  ge- 
nius ;  yet,  says  Pilkington,  how  any  artist  could  (accord- 
ing to  his  own  estimate  in   the  balance  of  painters)  be  on 
an   equality  with  the  Caracci,  Nicolo  Poussin,  and  Lio- 
nardo  da  Vinci,  in  composition  and  design,  and  superior 
to  them  all  by  several   degrees  in  expression,  and  also  ap- 
proach near  to  the  sublime,   without  having  a  genius,  or 
even  without  having  an  extraordinary  good  one,   seems  to 
me  not  easily  reconcileable.    If  the  productions  of  an  artist 
must  always  be  the  best  evidence  of  his  having  or  wanting 
a    genius,    the    compositions   of  Domenichino   must    ever 
afford  sufficient  proofs  in  his  favour.     The  same  biographer 
says,  that  as   to  correctness  of  design,  expression   of  the 
passions,  and  also  the  simplicity  and  variety, in   the  airs  of 
his  heads,  he  is  allowed  to  be  little  inferior  to  Raphael  ; 
yet  his  attitudes   are   but   moderate,  his  draperies  rather 
stiff,  and  his  pencil  heavy.     However,  as  he  advanced  in 
years   and    experience,    he    advanced    proportionably  in, 


D  O  M  E  N  I  C  H  I  N  O.  22* 

merit,  and  the  latest  of  his  compositions  are  his  best. 
There  is  undoubtedly  in  the  works  of  this  eminent  master, 
what  will  always  claim  attention  and  applause,  what  will 
for  ever  maintain  his  reputation,  and  place  him  among  the 
number  of  the  most  excellent  in  the  art  of  painting.  One 
of  the  chief  excellences  of  Domenichino  consisted  in  his 
painting  landscapes;  and  in  that  style,  the  beauty  arising 
from  the  natural  and  simple  elegance  of  his  scenery,  his 
trees,  his  well- broken  grounds,  and  in  particular  the  cha- 
racter and  expression  of  his  figures,  gained  him  as  much! 
public  admiration  as  any  of  his  other  performances. 

The  Communion  of  St.  Jerom,  and  the  Adam  and  Eve, 
are  too  well  known  to  need  a  description  ;  and  they  are 
universally  allowed  to  be  capital  works,  especially  in  the 
expression.  In  the  Palazzo  della  Torre,  at  Naples,  there 
is  a  picture  of  Domenichino,  representing  a  dead  Christ, 
on  the  Knees  of  the  Virgin,  attended  by  Mary  Magdalen 
and  others.  The  composition  of  this  picture  is  very  good, 
and  the  design  simple  and  true  ;  the  head  of  the  Magdalen 
is  full  of  expression,  the  character  excellent,  and  the  co- 
louring tolerable  ;  but  in  other  respects,  the  penciling  is 
dry,  and  there  is  more  of  coldness  than  of  harmony  in  the 
tints.  But  in  the  church  of  St.  Agnes,  at  Bologna,  is  an 
altar  piece  which  is  considered  as  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished performances  of  this  master,  and  shews  the  taste, 
judgment,  and  genius  of  this  great  artist  in  a  true  light. 
The  subject  is,  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Agnes ;  and  the  de- 
sign is  extremely  correct,  without  any  thing  of  manner. 
The  head  qf  the  saint  hath  an  expression  of  grief,  mixed 
with  hope,  that  is  wonderfully  noble ;  and  he  hath  given 
her  a  beautiful  character.  There  are  three  female  figures 
grouped  on  the  right,  which  are  lovely,  with  an  uncom- 
mon elegance  in  their  forms,  admirably  designed,  and 
with  a  tone  of  colour  that  is  beautiful.  Their  dress,  and 
particularly  the  attire  of  their  heads,  is  ingenious  and 
simple ;  one  of  this  master's  excellences  consisting  in  that 
part  of  contrivance  :  in  short,  it  is  finely  composed,  and 
unusually  well  penciled ;  though  the  general  tone  of  the 
colouring  partakes  a  little  of  the  greenish  cast,  and  the 
shadows  are  rather  too  dark,  yet  that  darkness  may  pro- 
bably have  been  occasioned  or  increased  by  time.  Such 
is  the  opinion  of  Pilkington,  but  it  is  time  now  to  attend 
to  that  of  more  authorized  criticism.  "  Expression,"  says 
Mr.  Fuseli,  "  which  hud  languished  after  the  demise  of 

VOL.  XiJU  Q 


226  D  O  M  E  N  I  C  H  I  N  O. 

RafTaello,  seemed  to  revive  in  Domenidiino ;  but  his  sen- 
sibility was  not  supported  by  equal  comprehension,  ele- 
vation of  mind,  or  dignity  of  motive.  His  sentiments  want 
propriety,  he  is  a  mannerist  in  feeling,  and  tacks  the 
imagery  of  Theocritus  to  the  subjects  of  Homer.  A  de- 
tail of  petty,  though  amiable  conceptions  is  rather  calcu- 
lated to  diminish  than  inforce  the  energy  of  a  pathetic 
whole.  A  lovely  child  taking  refuge  in  the  lip  or  bosorn 
of  a  lovely  mother,  is  an  idea  of  nature,  and  pleasing  in  a 
lowly,  pastoral,  or  domestic  subject ;  but  perpetually  re- 
curring, becomes  common-place,  and  amid  the  terrors  of 
martyrdom,  is  a  shred  sewed  to  a  purple  robe.  In  touching 
the  characteristic  circle  that  surrounds  the  Ananias  of  Raf- 
faello,  you  touch  the  electric  chain,  a  genuine  spark  in- 
sensibly darts  from  the  last  as  from  the  first,  penetrates 
mul  subdues.  At  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Agnes,  by  Dome- 
nichino,  you  saunter  amid  the  adventitious  mob  of  a  lane, 
where  the  silly  chat  of  neighbour  gossips  announces  a 
topic  as  silly,  till  you  find  with  indignation,  that  instead 
of  a  broken  pot,  or  a  petty  theft,  you  are  witness  to  a  scene 
for  which  heaven  opens  and  angels  descend. 

"  It  is,  however,  but  justice  to  observe  that  there  is  a 
subject  in  which  Domenichino  has  not  unsuccessfully 
copied,  and  perhaps  even  excelled  RafTaello.  I  mean  that 
of  the  Cure  of  the  demoniac  boy,  among  the  series  of  fres- 
coes painted  by  him  at  Grotto  Ferrata.  That  inspired 
figure  is  evidently  the  organ  of  an  internal  preternatural 
agent,  darted  upward  without  contortion,  and  even  con- 
sidered without  any  connexion  with  the  story,  never  can 
be  confounded  with  a  mere  tumultuary  distorted  maniac  ; 
which  is  not  perhaps  the  case  of  the  boy  in  the  Trans- 
figuration ;  the  subject,  too,  being  within  the  range  of 
Domenichino's  powers,  a  domestic  one,  the  whole  of  the 
persons  introduced  is  characteristic.  Awe  of  the  saint  who 
operates  the  miracle,  and  terror  at  the  redoubled  fury  of 
the  son  at  his  approach,  mark  the  rustic  father :  confidence, 
serene  activity,  and  fervent  prayer,  the  saint  and  his  com- 
panion :  nor  could  the  agonizing  female  with  the  child, 
as  she  is  the  mother,  be  exchanged  to  advantage  ;  here 
she  properly  occupies  that  place  which  the  fondling  females 
in  the  pictures  of  St.  Sebastian,  St.  Andrew,  and  St.  Agnes, 
only  usurp. 

"  It  has  been  said  Domenichino's  invention  was  inferior 
to  his  other  parts.  The  picture  of  the  *  Rosario,'  now  in 


D  O  M  E  N  I  C  H  I  N  O.  227 

the  gallery  of  the  Louvre,  is  adduced  as  a  proof;  an  idea 
neither  then  nor  now  understood  by  the  public,  disapproved 
of  by  his  most  partial  friends,  and  of  which  he  repented 
himself;  in  the  most  celebrated  of  his  works,  the  Commu- 
nion of  St.  Jerome,  he  imitated  Agostino,  and  in  the  alms- 
scene  of  '  St.  Cecilia,'  the  '  St.  Rocco'  of  Annibale  Caracci. 
But  from  the  Triumph  of  the  <  Rosary,'  the  most  brilliant 
fanc_y  will  i  licit  little  more  than  splendid  confusion  ;  in  the 
'  St.  Jerome,'  if  the  arrangement  and  the  postures  are  imi- 
tated, the  characters  are  invented  ;  what  he  owes  to  Anni- 
bale in  the  Chanties  of  St.  Cecilia,  is  less  than  what  Anni- 
bale owes  to  Raffaello  in  his  '  Genus  unde  Latinum ;'  and 
is  amply  compensated  by  the  original  beauties  of  St.  Ce- 
cilia before  the  Praetor.  Domenichino  was  what  few  men 
of  genius  are,  a  good  master.  The  best  of  his  Roman 
scholars  were  Antonio  Barbalunzaof  Messina,  and  Andrew 
Camassei  of  Bevagna.  -  The  first  copied  and  imitated  his 
master  with  sufficient  success,  and  sometimes  to  a  degree 
of  deception.  The  second,  more  timid  and  less  select, 
had  nature  and  a  grand  style  of  colour." 

Domenichino  was  made  the  chief  architect  of  the  apos- 
tolical palace  by  pope  Gregory  XV.  for  his  great  skill  in 
that  art.  He  was  likewise  very  well  versed  in  the  theory 
of  music,  but  not  successful  in  the  practice.  He  loved 
solitude ;  and  it  was  observed,  that,  as  he  went  along  the 
streets,  he  took  notice  of  the  actions  of  private  persons  he 
met,  and  often  designed  something  in  his  pocket-book. 
He  was  of  a  mild  temper  and  obliging  carriage,  yet  had 
the  misfortune  to  find  enemies  in  all  places  wherever  he 
came.  At  Naples,  particularly,  he  was  so  ill  treated  by 
those  of  his  own  profession,  that,  having  agreed  among 
themselves  to  disparage  all  his  works,  they  would  hardly 
allow  him  to  be  a  tolerable  master :  and  they  were  not 
content  with  having  frighted  him  for  some  time  from  that 
city,  but  afterwards,  upon  his  return  thither,  never  left 
persecuting  him,  till  by  their  tricks  and  vexations  they  had 
wearied  him  out  of  his  life.  He  died  in  1641,  not  without 
the  suspicion  of  poison. l 

DOMINIC  (DE  GUZMAN),  a  Saint  of  the  Romish  calen- 
dar, founder  of  the  order  of  the  Dominicans,  and  as  some 
say,  of  that  horrible  engine  of  tyranny,  the  Inquisition,  was 
born  in  1170,  at  Calarogo,  in  old  Castille,  in  the  diocese 

1  Argenville,  vol.  II. — Pilkinytan. 
Q  2 


223  DOMINIC. 

of  Osma.  He  was  of  the  family  of  the  Guzmans,  and  edu- 
cated at  first  under  a  priest,  his  uncle  ;  but  at  fourteen 
years,  was  sent  to  the  public  schools  of  Palentia,  where 
he  became  a  great  proficient  in  rhetoric,  philosophy,  and 
divinity,  and  was  also  distinguished  by  austere  mortifica- 
tions and  charity  to  the  poor.  When  he  had  finished  his 
studies  and  taken  his  degrees,  he  explained  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  schools,  and  preached  at  Palentia.  In 
1198  he  was  made  a  canon  of  Osma.  After  five  years  he 
accompanied  the  bishop  of  Osma  on  an  embassy  to  the  earl 
of  La  Marche,  and  in  his  journey  was  grievously  afflicted 
to  behold  the  spread  of  what  he  called  heresy  among  the 
Albigenses,  and  conceived  the  design  of  converting  them, 
and  at  first  appears  to  have  used  only  argument,  accom- 
panied with  the  deception  of  pretended  miracles  ;  but  find- 
ing these  unsuccessful,  joined  the  secular  power  in  a  bloody 
crusade  against  the  Albigenses,  which  he  encouraged  by 
prayers  and  miracles.  During  these  labours,  he  instituted 
the  devotion  of  the  Rosary,  consisting  of  fifteen  Pater 
Hosiers,  and  an  hundred  and  fifty  Ave  Marias,  in  honour 
of  the  fifteen  principal  mysteries  of  the  life  and  sufferings 
of  Christ,  and  of  the  virgin  Mary,  which  our  saint  thought 
the  people  might  be  made  to  honour  by  this  foolish  expe- 
dient. In  1206  he  founded  the  nunnery  of  our  lady  of 
Prouille,  near  Faujaux,  which  he  put  under*  the  rule  of 
St.  Austin,  and  afterwards  established  an  institute  called 
his  third  order,  some  of  the  members  of  which  live  in 
monasteries,  and  are  properly  nuns ;  others  live  in  their 
own  houses,  adding  religious  to  civil  duties,  and  serving 
the  poor  in  hospitals  and  prisons. 

St.  Dominic  had  spent  ten  years  in  preaching  in  Lan- 
guedoc,  when,  in  1215,  he  founded  the  celebrated  order  of 
preaching  friars,  or  Dominicans,  as  they  were  afterwards 
called.  The  same  year  it  was  approved  of  by  Innocent  III. 
and  confirmed  in  1216,  by  a  bull  of  Honorius  III.  under 
the  title  of  St.  Augustin  ;  to  which  Dominic  added  several 
austere  precepts  and  observances,  obliging  the  brethren  to 
tuke  a  vow  of  absolute  poverty,  and  to  abandon  entirely  all 
their  revenues  and  possessions;  and  they  were  called 
preaching  friars,  because  public  instruction  was  the  main 
end  of  their  institution.  The  first  convent  was  founded  at 
Tholouse  by  the  bishop  thereof,  and  Simon  de  Montfort. 
Two  years  afterwards  they  had  another  at  Paris,  near  the 
bishop's  house  ;  and  iome  time  after,  viz.  in  1218,  a  third 


D  O  M  I  N  I  C»  229 

in  the  rue  St  Jaques,  St.  James's- street,  whence  the  deno- 
mination of  Jacobins.     Just  before  his  death,  Dominic  sent 
Gilbert  de  Fresney,  with  twelve  of  the  brethren,  into  Eng- 
land, where  they  founded   their  first  monastery  at  Oxford, 
in  1221,  and  soon  after  another  at  London.     In  1276,   the 
mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  of  London  gave  them  two 
whole  streets  by  the  river  Thames,  where  they  erected  a 
very  commodious  convent,  whence  that  place  is  still  called 
Black   Friars,   from  the   name  by  which  the  Dominican? 
were  called  in  England.     St.  Dominic,  at  first,   only  took 
the  habit  of  the  regular  canons,  that  is,  a  black  cassock, 
and  rochet;  but  this  he  quited   in    1219,  for  that  which 
they  now  wear,   which,   it  is  pretended,  was  shewn  by  the 
blessed  Virgin  herself  to  the  beatiiied  Renaud  d'Orleans. 
This  order  is  diffused  throughout  the  whole  known  world. 
It  has  forty-five  provinces  under  the  general,  who  resides 
at  Rome  ;  and  twelve  particular  congregations,  or  reforms, 
governed  by  vicars-general.     They  reckon  three  popes  of 
this  order,  above  sixty  cardinals,  several  patriarchs,  a  hun- 
dred   and    fifty   archbishops,    and    about   eight  hundred 
bishops  ;  beside  masters  of  the  sacred  palace,  whose  office 
has  been  constantly  discharged  by  a  religious  of  this  order, 
ever  since  St.  Dominic,  who  held  it  under  Honorius  III.  in 
1218.  The  Dominicans  are  also  inquisitors  in  many  places. 
Of  all  the  monastic  orders,  none  enjoyed  a  higher  degree 
of  power  and  authority  than  the  Dominican  friars,   whose 
credit  was  great   and  their  influence  universal.     Nor  will 
this  appear  surprising,  when  we  consider  that  they  filled 
very  eminent  stations  in  the  church,  presided  every  where 
over  the  terrible  tribunal  of  the   inquisition,  and  had  the 
care  of  souls,  with  the  function  of  confessors   in  all   the 
courts  of  Europe,  which  circumstance,  in  those  times  of 
ignorance  and  superstition,  manifestly  tended  to  put  most 
of  the  European  princes  in  their  power.     But  the  measures 
they  used,  in  order  to  maintain  and  extend  their  authority, 
were  so  perfidious  and  cruel,  that  their  influence  began  tq 
decline  towards  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  tragic  story  of  Jetzer,  conducted  at  Bern  in  1501),  for 
determining  the  uninteresting  dispute  between  them  and 
the  Franciscans,    relating   to  the   immaculate  conception, 
will  reflect  indelible  infamy  on  this  order.     They  were  in- 
deed perpetually  employed  in  stigmatizing  with  the  oppro- 
brious name  of  heresy  numbers  of  learned  and  pious  men  ; 
in  encroaching  upon  the  rights  and  properties  of  others,  to 


230  DOMINIC. 

augment  their  possessions ;  and  in  laying  the  most  ini- 
quitous snares  and  stratagems  for  the  destruction  of  their 
adversaries.  They  were  the  principal  counsellors,  by 
whose  instigation  and  advice  LeoX.  was  determined  to  the 
public  condemnation  of  Luther.  The  papal  see  never  had 
more  active  and  useful  abettors  than  this  order  and  that  of 
the  Jesuits.  The  dogmata  of  the  Dominicans  are  usually 
opposite  to  those  of  the  Franciscans.  They  concurred  with 
the  Jesuits  in  maintaining,  that  the  sacraments  have  in 
themselves  an  instrumental  and  official  powe". ,  by  virtue  of 
which  they  work  in  the  soul  (independently  of  its  previous 
preparation  or  propensities)  a  disposition  to  receive  the  di- 
vine grace ;  and  this  is  what  is  commonly  called  the  opus 
operatum  of  the  sacraments.  Thus,  according  to  their 
doctrine,  neither  knowledge,  wisdom,  humility,  faith,  nor 
devotion,  are  necessary  to  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments, 
whose  victorious  energy  nothing  but  a  mortal  sin  can  resist. 

After  establishing  this  important  order,  St  Dominic,  who 
had  deservedly  become  a  favourite  at  the  court  of  Rome, 
was  detained  for  several  months  to  preach  in  that  city ;  and 
by  his  advice  the  pope  created  the  new  office,  already 
mentioned,  that  of  master  of  the  sacred  palace,  who  is  by 
virtue  of  this  office  the  pope's  domestic  theologian  or  chap- 
lain ;  and  St.  Dominic  was  appointed  to  it.  It  has  ever 
since  been  held  by  one  of  his  order.  The  rest  of  his  his- 
tory at  Rome  consists  of  his  miracles,  and  may  well  be 
spared.  In  1218  he  took  a  journey  from  Rome  through 
Languedoc  into  Spain,  and  founded  two  convents ;  thence 
he  went  in  1219  to  Toulouse  and  Paris,  at  which  last  place 
he  founded  his  convent  in  St.  James's-street,  whence  his 
order  were  called  Jacobins,  and  inhabited  a  house  since 
memorable  in  the  history  of  the  French  revolution.  After 
this,  and  the  foundation  of  other  convents,  he  arrived  at 
Bologna,  where  he  principally  resided  during  tiie  remain- 
der of  his  life,  which  ended  August  6,  1221.  He  was 
canonized  by  pope  Gregory  IX.  in  1234. 

Butler  observes  that  St.  Dominic  hau  no  hand  in  the  ori- 
gin of  the  inquisition,  tiiough  he  owns,  that  the  project  of 
this  court  was  first  formed  in  a  council  of  Toulouse  iu  1.29, 
and  that  in  1233,  two  Dominican  friars  were  the  first  in- 
quisitors. Modern  protestant  historians  seem  inclined  to 
concede  that,  although  St.  Dominic  was  an  inquisitor,  it 
was  not  in  the  most  offensive  sense  of  the  word.  Tins, 
however,  will  not  excuse  his  tyranny  towards  the  Albi- 


DOMINIC.  231 

genses,  and  if  he  did  not  invent  the  inquisition,  he  at  least 
must  be  allowed  the  honour  of  inventing  the  rosary,  a 
species  of  mechanical  devotion  which  has  done  infinite 
mischief. ! 

DOMINICO.     See  BURCHIELLO. 
DOM1NIS  (MARK  ANTONY  DE),  archbishop  of  Spalato 
in  Dalmatia,   was  born  about  1561,  at  Arba,  and  educated 
at  Padua.     He  was  remarkable  for  a  fickleness  in  religious 
matters,  which   at   length   proved   his  ruin  ;  otherwise  he 
was  a  man  of  great  abilities  and  learning.     He  was  entered 
eariy  amongst  the  Jesuits,  but  left  that  society  to  be  bishop 
of  Segni,  and  afterwards  archbishop  of  Spalato  ;  but  in- 
stead of  growing  more  firmly  attached  to  the  church  of 
Rome  on  account  of  his  preferment,  he  became  ever}7  day 
more  and   more  disaffected  to  it.     This   induced   him   to 
write   his   famous   books  "  De    Republica    Ecclesiastica," 
which  were  afterwards  printed  in   London;  and  in  which 
he  aimed  a  capital  blow  at  the  papal  power.     These  books 
were  read  over  and  corrected,  before  publication,  by  our 
bishop  Bedell,   who  was  then  at  Venice  in  quality  of  chap- 
lain to  sir  Henry  Wotton,  ambassador  there  from  James  I. 
De  Dominis  coming  to  Venice,  and  hearing  a  high  charac- 
ter of  Bedell,  readily  discovered  his  secret,  and  commui- 
cated  his  copy  to  him.     Bedell  took  the  freedom  he  allowed 
him,  of  correcting  many  improper  applications  of  texts  in 
scripture,    and   quotations   of  fathers :     for    that    prelate, 
being  ignorant  of  the  Greek  tongue  (a  common  thing  in 
those  days   even    amongst  the   learned),    had   committed 
many  mistakes  both  in  the  one  and  the  other.     De  Do- 
minis  took  all  this  in  very  good  part,  entered  into  great 
familiarity  with  Bedell,  and  declared  his  assistance  so  use- 
ful, and  indeed  so  necessary  to  him,  that  he  could,  as  he 
used  to  say,  do  nothing  without  him. 

When  Bedell  returned  to  England,  Dominis  came  over 
with  him,  and  was  at  first  received  by  the  English  clergy 
with  all  possible  marks  of  respect.  Here  he  preached  and 
wrote  against  the  Romish  religion,  and  the  king  gave  him 
the  deanery  of  Windsor,  the  mastership  of  the  Savoy,  and 
the  rich  living  of  West  Ildesley  in  Berkshire.  De  Do- 
minis' s  view  seems  to  have  been  to  reunite  the  Romish 
and  English  churches,  which  he  thought  might  easily  be 

1  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints.— JWosheim's  and  Milner's  EccJ.  Hist. — Morc/i, 
—Fabric.  Bib).  Lat.  Med. 


232  D  O  M  I  N  I  S. 

effected,  by  reforming  some  abuses  and  superstitions  in 
the   former;    "and  then,"  Grotius  says,   "he  imagined, 
the    religion    of  protestants    and    catholics  would   be   the 
same."     After  he  had  staid  in  England  some  years,  he  was 
made   to   believe,    upon   the  promotion  of  pope  Gregory 
XIV.  who  had  been  his  school-fellow  and  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, that  the  pope  intended  to  give  him  a  cardinal's  hat, 
and  to  make  use  of  him  in  all   affairs ;  so  that  he  fancied 
he  should  be  the  instrument  of  a  great  reformation  in  the 
church.     This  snare  wa*  laid  for  him  chiefly  by  the  artifice 
of  Gondemar,  the  Spanish  ambassador ;  and  his  own  am- 
bition and  vanity  (of  both  which  he  had  a  share)  made  him 
easily  fall  into  it.     Accordingly  he  returned  to  Rome  in 
1622,  where  he  abjured  his  errors  in  a  very  solemn  man- 
ner.    He  was  at  first,  it  is  said,  well  received  by  the  pope 
himself;  but  happening  to  say  of  cardinal  Bellarmine,  who 
had  written  against  him,  that  he  had  not  answered   his  ar- 
guments, he  was  complained  of  to  the  pope,  as  if  he  had 
been  still  of  the  same  mind  as  when  he  published  his  books. 
He  excused   himself,  and    said,  that   though    Bellarmine 
had  not  answered  his  arguments,  yet   he  did  not  say   they 
were  unanswerable ;  and  he  offered  to  answer  them  him- 
self, if  they  would  allow  him  time  for  it.     This  imprudent 
way  of  talking,  together  with  the  discovery  of  a  correspond- 
ence which  he  held  with  some    protestants,    furnished    a 
sufficient  plea  for  seizing  him ;  and  he  was  thrown   into 
prison,  where  he  died  in  1625.     It  was  discovered   after 
his  death,  that  his  opinions  were  not  agreeable  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church  of  Rome ;  upon  which  his  corpse  was 
dug  up,  and  burnt  with  his  writings  in  Flora's  Field,  by  a 
decree  of  the  inquisition. 

Besides  his  work,  "  De  Republica  Ecclesiastica,"  3  vols. 
fol.  he  was  author  of  a  work  in  optics,  which  obtained  the 
applause  of  the  illustrious  sir  I.  Newton,  and  which  is  en- 
titled "  De  Radiis  Visus  &  Lucis  in  Vitris  perspectives  et 
Iride  Tractatus."  Our  great  philosopher  complimented 
the  author  of  this  tract  so  far  as  to  declare,  that  he  was  the 
first  person  who  had  explained  the  phenomena  of  the  co- 
lours of  the  rainbow.  He  wrote  also,  1.  "  Dominis  suae 
profectionis  a  Venetiis  consilium  exponit,"  London,  1616, 
4to,  and  published  in  English  the  same  year.  2.  "  Predica 
fatta,  la  prima  Domenica  dell'  Avvento  1617,  in  Londra 
nella  Capella  delta  delli  Mercian,"  Lond.  1617,  12mo, 
published  in  English  the  same  year,  4to.  3.  "  Sui  Re- 


D  O  M  I  N  I  S.  233 

tiitus  in  Anglia  consiliura  exponit,"  Rome,  1623,  4to,  and 
in  English  the  same  year.  4.  "  De  pace  regionis,  Epistola 
ad  Josephum  Hallum,"  1666,  4to.  We  are  also  indebted 
to  him  for  father  Paul's  "  History  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,"  the  manuscript  of  which  lie  procured  for  arch- 
bishop Abbot.1 

DONALDSON   (JOHN),  an  artist  and  author,  was  born 
at  Edinburgh  in  1737  ;  his  father  was  a  glover  in  rather 
low  circumstances,  but  of  a  speculative  turn  of  mind,  and 
much  addicted  to  metaphysical  reveries,  of  which  his  son 
unfortunately  inherited  a  double  portion,  and   without  his 
father's  prudence,  who  never  suffered  his  abstractions  to 
interfere  with  his  business.     While  a  child,  young  Donald- 
son was  constantly  occupied  in  copying  every  object  be- 
fore him  with  chalk  on  his  father's  cutting-board,  which, 
was  often  covered  with  his  infant  delineations.     This  natu- 
ral determination  of  the  mind  was  encouraged  by  the  father, 
and  at  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  his  son  had  acquired 
some  reputation  as  a  drawer  of  miniature  portraits  in  Indian 
ink,  and  was  by  these  efforts  enabled  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  his   parents.     At  the  same  time  he  was  much 
admired  for  his  skilfil  imitations  of  the  ancient  engravers, 
which  he  executed  with  a  pen  so  correctly,  as  sometimes 
to  deceive  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur.     After  passing  several 
years  in    Edinburgh,  he   came  to   London,  and  for  some 
time   pai.ited   portraits  in   miniature  with    much   success ; 
but  unfortunately  he  now  began   to  fancy  that  the  taste, 
policy,  morals,  and  religion   of  mankind  were  all   wrong, 
and  that  he  w  is  born  to  set  them  right.     From  this  time  his 
profession  became  a  secondary  object,  and  whether  from 
jealousy  or  insanity,   he  used  repeatedly  to  declare  that  sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  must  be  a  very  dull  fellow  to  devote  his 
life  to  the  study  of  lines  and  tints.     The  consequence  of 
all  this  was  that  contemptuous  neglect  of  business  which 
soon  left  him  no  business  to  mind.     In  the  mean  time   he 
employed  his  pen  in  various  lucubrations,  and  published  a 
volume  of  poems,    and  an   "  Essay   on    the    Elements   of 
Beauty,"  in  both  which  merit  was  discoverable.     Before 
he  took  a  disgust  at  his  profession,  he  made  an  historical 
drawing,   the  "  Tent  of  Darius,"  which  was  honoured  with 
the  prize  given  by  the  Society  of  Arts ;  and  also  painted 

1   Moreri. — Laruli  Hi>-t.  de  la  Literature   rl'Italie,  vol.  V. — Burnet's   Life  of 
Bedell,  p.  10,  18. — Freheri  Theatrum.— Saxii  Onomabt. 


214  DONALDSON. 

two  subjects  in  enamel,  the  "  Death  of  Dido,"  and  "  Hero 
and  Leander,"   both  which  obtained  prizes  from  the  same 
society,  yet  no  encouragement  could  induce  him  to  prose- 
cute his  art.     Among  his  various   pursuits  he  cultivated 
chemistry,  and  discovered  a  method  of  preserving  not  only 
vegetables  of  every  kind,  but  the  lean  of  meat,  so  as  to 
remain  uncorrupted  during  the  longest  voyages.     For  this 
discovery  he  obtained  a  patent;  but  want  of  money,  and 
perhaps  his  native  indolence,  and  a  total  ignorance  of  the 
affairs  of  life,  prevented  him  from  deriving  any  advantage 
from  it.     The  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  were  years  of 
suffering.      His  eyes  and  business  failing,  he  was  not  sel- 
dom in  want  of  the  most  common  necessaries.     His  last 
illness  was  occasioned  by  sleeping  in  a  room  which  had 
been  lately  painted.     He  was  seized  with  a  total  debility ; 
and  being  removed  by  the  care  of  some  friends  to  a  lodging 
at  Islington,    where  he  received  every  attention   that  his 
case  required,  he  expired  Oct.  11,    1801,   regretted  bv  all 
who  knew  him  as  a  man  of  singular  and  various  endow- 
ments, addicted  to  no  vice,  and  of  the  utmost  moderation, 
approaching  to  abstemiousness;  but  unhappy  in  a  turn  of 
mind  too  irregular  for  the  business  of  life,  and  above  the 
considerations    of  prudence.     Mr.  Edwards   attributes    to 
him  an  anonymous  pamphlet  entitled  "  Critical  Observa- 
tions and  Remarks  upon  the  public  buildings  of  London."1 
DONALDSON  (WALTER),  born  at  Aberdeen  in   Scot- 
land, bore  some  rank  among  the  learned  men  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.     He  had  been  in  the  retinue  and  service 
of  David  Cuningham,  bishop  of  Aberdeen,  and  Peter  Ju- 
nius,  great  almoner  of  Scotland,  when  they  went  on  an 
embassy  from  king  James  to  the  court  of  Denmark,  and  to 
the  princes  of  Germany.     After  his  return  home,   he  went 
to  Heidelberg,  where  the  famous  Dionysius  Gothofredus 
taught  the  civil  law.     Donaldson,  having  there  dictated  to 
some  young  students  a  short  course  of  moral  philosophy, 
a  young   man  of  Riga  in  Livonia  put  the  manuscript  to 
the  press  without  his  consent,  but  he   seemed   not  dis- 
pleased, and  informs  us  of  the  several  editions  which  were 
made  of  that   work   in    Germany,  and  in  Great  Britain, 
under  the  title  "  Synopsis  moralis  philosophise."     He  was 
afterwards  professor  of  natural  and  moral  philosophy,  and 
of  the  Greek  tongue,  in  the  university  of  Sedan,  and  was 

«  Gent.  Mag.  1801. — Edwards's  Supplement  to  Walpole. 


DONALDSON.  2J5 

principal  of  the  college  sixteen  years ;  after  which  he  was 
invited  to  open  a  college  at  Charenton  ;  but  that  establish- 
ment was  immediately  opposed  by  law.  Mot  to  remain 
idle  while  the  law-suit  was  depending,  he  set  himself  to 
collect  from  among  his  papers  the  several  parts  of  his 
"  Synopsis  Oeconomica,"  wnich  he  got  printed  at  Paris  in 
1620,  in  8vo,  and  dedicated  it  to  the  prince  of  Wales.  It 
was  reprinted  at  Rostoch,  1624,  in  Svo.  That  wherein  he 
reduced  into  common  places,  and  under  certain  general 
heads,  all  that  lies  scattered  in  Diogenes  Laertius  concern- 
ing the  same  thing,  was  printed  in  Greek  and  Latin,  at 
Francfort,  in  1612,  under  the  title  of  "  Synopsis  Locorum 
communium,  in  qua  sapientiae  human®  imago  repraesen- 
tatur,"  &c. ' 

DONATELLO,  or  DONATO,  one  of  the  principal  re- 
vivers of  sculpture  in  Italy,  of  an  obscure  family  at  Flo- 
rence, was  born  in  1383.  He  learned  design  under  Lo- 
renzo de  Bicci,  and  abandoning  the  old  dry  manner,  he 
was  the  first  who  gave  his  works  the  grace  and  freedom  of 
the  productions  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  ;  and  Cosmo 
de  Medicis  employed  him  on  a  tomb  for  pope  John  XXIII. 
and  in  other  works,  both  public  and  private.  Cosmo  also 
availed  himself  of  his  taste  and  judgment  in  forming  those 
grand  collections,  which  gave  celebrity  to  Florence  as  the 
parent  of  modern  art.  Amongst  his  performances  in  that 
city  are  his  Judith  and  Holofernes  in  bronze,  his  Annuncia- 
tion, his  St.. George  and  St.  Mark,  and  his  Zuccone,  in  one 
of  the  niches  of  the  Campanile  at  Florence ;  all  of  which 
are  as  perfect  as  the  narrow  principles  upon  which  the  art 
was  then  conducted  would  allow.  To  these  we  may  add 
another  excellent  performance,  his  equestrian  statue  of 
bronze  at  Padua,  to  the  honour  of  their  general  Gallama- 
lata.  Conscious  of  the  value  of  his  performances,  he  ex- 
claimed to  a  Genoese  merchant,  who  had  bespoke  a  head, 
and  estimated  it  by  the  number  of  days  which  it  had  em- 
ployed the  artist,  "  this  man  better  knows  how  to  bargain 
for  beans  than  for  statues  : — he  shall  not  have  my  head  ;" 
and  then  dashed  it  to  pieces  :  yet  no  man  less  regarded 
money  than  Donatello.  Cosmo  at  his  death  having  re- 
commended him  to  his  son,  the  latter  gave  him  an  estate ; 
but  in  a  little  while  Donatello,  who  began  to  be  plagued 
with  his  farmers  and  agents,  begged  his  benefactor  to  take 

1  Eayle  in  Gen.  Diet, 


236  D  O  N  A  T  E  L  L  O. 

it  again,  as  he  did  not  like  the  trouble  of  it.  The  gift  was 
resumed,  and  a  weekly  pension  of  the  same  value  assigned 
to  the  artist.  He  had  no  notion  of  hoarding;  but  it  is 
said  that  he  deposited  what  he  received  in  a  basket,  sus- 
pended from  a  ceiling,  from  which  his  friends  and  work- 
people might  supply  themselves  at  their  pleasure.  He 
died  in  1466,  at  the  age  of  83,  and  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  St.  Lorenzo,  near  his  friend  Cosmo,  that,  as  he 
expressed  himself,  "  his  soul  having  been  with  him  when 
living,  their  bodies  mio-ht  be  near  each  other  when  dead." 

O  *  O 

He  left  a  son,  named  "  Simon,"  who  adopted  his  manner, 
and  acquired  reputation. 1 

DON  ATI  (VITALIANO),  an  eminent  botanist,  was  born 
at  Padua  in  1717,  of  a  noble  family,  but  addicted  himself 
to  science,  and  under  the  ablest  professors  of  the  univer- 
sity of  his  native  city,  studied  medicine,  natural  history, 
botany,  and  mathematics.  After  taking  his  doctor's  degree 
in  medicine,  he  more  particularly  cultivated  natural  history, 
and  frequently  went  to  Dalmatia  in  pursuit  of  curious  spe- 
cimens. In  1750  he  published  a  small  folio,  with  plates, 
entitled  "  Delia  Storia  Naturale  Marina  dell'  Adriatico," 
to  which  his  friend  Sesler  subjoined  the  botanical  history 
of  a  plant  named  after  him  Vitaliana.  This  work  was  after- 
wards translated  into  several  languages.  The  same  year, 
he  was  appointed  professor  of  natural  history  and  botany 
at  Turin.  After  having  travelled  several  times  over  the 
maritime  Alps,  he  undertook,  by  order  of  the  king,  an 
expedition  to  the  East  Indies.  Arriving  at  Alexandria,  he 
went  thence  to  Cairo,  and  after  visiting  a  considerable  part 
of  Egypt,  penetrated  into  those  countries  that  were  then 
unknown  to  European  travellers.  On  his  return  he  died  at 
Bassora,  of  a  putrid  fever,  in  1763.  He  had  previously 
packed  up  two  cases  of  collections  of  natural  history,  and 
two  large  volumes  of  observations  made  during  his  travels, 
which  were  to  be  conveyed  to  Turin  by  the  way  of  Lisbon  ; 
but  at  the  latter  place,  it  is  said,  they  were  kept  a  long 
time,  not  without  some  suspicion  of  their  having  been 
opened,  &c.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  both  the  collec- 
tions and  the  manuscripts  were  lost  by  some  means  or 
other.  Ferber,  who  gives  some  account  of  Donati  in  his 
"  Letters  on  Mineralogy,"  thinks  he  was  not  very  remark- 

1  Tiraboschi. — Eoscoe's  Lorenzo  de  Modi*!. — Aglionby's  Painting  illus- 
trated, p.  3C3. — Rees's  Cyclops-ilia. 


D  O  N  A  T  I.  237 

able  for  his  botanical  knowledge,  but  a  first-rate  connois- 
seur in  petrifactions,  corals,  zoophytes,  and,  in  general, 
in  the  knowledge  of  all  marine  bodies.  He  adds  that  his 
enemies  were  zealous  in  their  endeavours  to  injure  his  re- 
putation ;  affirming  that  he  was  still  alive  in  Persia,  where 
he  resided  in  disguise,  and  appropriated  to  his  own  use 
the  remittances  that  had  been  granted  for  the  purposes  of 
his  voyage,  all  which  Ferber  considers  as  a  ridiculous  fable. 
After  his  death,  was  published  his  "  Dissertation  sur  le 
corail  noir."  * 

DONATO  (ALEXANDER),  a  Jesuit  of  Sienna,  who  died 
at  Rome  April  1'3,  1640,  published  in  that  city  in  1639, 
in  4to,  a  description  of  ancient  and  modern  Rome, 
"  Roma  vetus  &  recens  utriusque  edificiis  illustrata."  It 
is  far  more  accurate  and  better  composed  than  all  those 
that  had  been  given  before  to  the  public.  Grsevius  has  in- 
serted it  in  the  3d  volume  of  his  Roman  Antiquities.  We 
have  likewise  Latin  poems  of  his,  Cologne,  1631,  8vo,  and 
three  books  on  the  art  of  poetry. a 

DONATO  (BERNARDIN),  a  very  learned  scholar  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  was  born  at  Zano,  a  seat  belonging  to 
the  family  of  Nogarola,  in  the  diocese  of  Verona  in  Italy. 
He  became  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  at  Padua,  whence 
he  went  to  teach  the  same  languages  at  Capo  d'Istria,  as 
mentioned  by  Bembo  in  his  letters.  He  taught  also  at 
Parma,  and  there  printed  a  Latin  oration  in  1532  on  the 
praises  of  Parma,  and  the  study  of  classical  literature, 
"  De  laudibus  Parmae  et  de  studiis  humanioribus."  After 
this  he  appears  to  have  given  lessons  in  the  duchy  of  Fer- 
rara,  whence  he  returned  and  died  in  his  own  country, 
much  regretted  as  an  accomplished  scholar.  He  made  the 
Latin  translation  of  the  Evangelical  Demonstration  of  Euse- 
bius,  which  was  magnificently  printed,  and  afterwards  used 
in  a  Parisedition,  Greek  and  Latin,  but  without  noticing  that 
it  was  his.  He  translated  also  some  pieces  of  Galen,  Xe- 
noplion,  and  Aristotle  ;  and  was  editor  of  the  first  Greek 
edition  of  Chrysostom  ;  the  first  edition  of  QEcumenius ; 
of  Aretas  on  the  Apocalypse ;  two  books  of  John  Damas- 
cenus  on  Faith;  and  superintended  an  edition  of  Macro- 
bius  and  Censorinus.  In  1540  he  published  "  De  Pldto- 
nicae,  et  Aristotelicae  philosophise,  differentia,"  Venice,  8vo, 

1  Diet.  Hist. — Mon'h.  Rev.  vol.  LV. 

*  Moreri, — Baiilet  Jugemens. — Saxii  Onoaiast, 


238  D  O  N  A  T  O. 

but  this  was  a  posthumous  work,  if  according  to  Saxius,  he 
died  in  1  540. l 

DO  NATO  (JEROM),  a  nobleman  of  Venice,  who  died 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  very  useful 
to  his  country  ;  served  it  as  a  commander  more  than  once  ; 
and  was,  in  1510,  the  means  of  reconciling  that  republic 
and  pope  Julius  II.  though  he  had  the  misfortune  to  he 
carried  off  by  a  violent  fever  at  Rome  in  1513,  before  the 
treaty  was  concluded  between  them.  He  was  also  a  man 
of  learning ;  and  published  a  translation  of  "  Alexander 
Aphrodiseus  de  Anima."  His  letters  are  likewise  well 
written  ;  which  made  Erasmus  say  of  him,  that  he  was  ca- 
pable of  any  literary  exertion,  if  his  mind  had  not  been 
dissipated  by  other  employments.  Pierius  Valerianus  has 
placed  him  in  the  list  of  unfortunate  learned  men,  for 
which  he  gives  three  reasons  :  first,  because  his  domestics 
obeyed  him  ill ;  secondly,  because  he  did  not  live  to  see 
the  happiness,  which  would  arise  to  his  country  from  the 
conclusion  of  his  treaty ;  thirdly,  because  a  great  many 
books,  which  he  had  written  to  immortalize  kis  name,  re- 
mained unpublished.  We  have  not  much  reason,  hovever, 
for  thinking  that  any  of  these  misfortunes  gave  him  much 
uneasiness.  An  ingenious  reply  is,  we  know  not  upon 
what  authority,  attributed  to  him,  when  ambassador  from 
Venice  to  pope  Julius  II.  who  asked  him  for  the  title  of  the 
claims  of  his  republic  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Adriatic. 
"  Your  holiness  will  find  the  concession  of  the  Adriatic," 
said  he  to  the  pontiff,  "  at  the  back  of  the  original  record 
of  Constantine's  donation  to  pope  Sylvester,  of  the  city  of 
Rome  and  the  other  territories  of  the  church."  A  bold 
answer,  when  we  consider  how  dangerous  it  was  to  dispute 
the  authenticity  of  this  writ  of  donation,  insomuch  that,  in 
1478,  several  persons  were  condemned  to  the  flames  at 
Strasburg  for  expressing  their  doubts  of  it. 

Much  additional  information  respecting  Donate  is  given 
by  our  countryman  Mr.  Greswell,  who  says  that  "  he 
united  in  his  character  whatever  could  adorn  the  scholar 
and  the  gentleman  ;"  and  that  "  with  a  well-cultivated 
understanding,  great  political  experience,  and  a  profound 
knowledge  of  the  interests  of  the  state,  he  combined  very 
elegant  manners,  and  the  most  captivating  address ;  all 

1  Moreri,— Maffei  Verona  illustrata. — Saxii  Onomasticon, 


f  D  O  N  A  T  U  S.  239 

which  advantages  were  heightened  by  a  majestic  stature 
and  deportment,  and  every  personal  accomplishment."1 

DONATUS,  bishop  of  Casae  Nigrae  in  Numidia,  is  re- 
garded by  some  as  the  author  of  the  sect  of  the  Donatists, 
which  took  its  rise  in  the  year  311,  from  the  following 
circumstance.  Cecilianus  having  been  chosen  to  succeed 
Mensurius  in  the  episcopal  chair  of  Carthage,  the  election 
was  contested  by  a  powerful  party,  headed  by  a  lady 
named  Lucilla,  and  two  priests,  Brotus  and  Celestius, 
who  had  themselves  been  candidates  for  the  disputed  see. 
They  caused  Majorinus  to  be  elected,  under  pretence  that 
the  ordination  of  Cecilianus  was  null,  as  having,  according 
to  them,  been  performed  by  Felix,  bishop  of  Aptonga, 
whom  they  accused  of  being  a  traditor;  that  is,  of  having 
delivered  to  the  pagans  the  sacred  books  and  vessels  during 
the  persecution,  and  was  therefore  unfit  to  bestow  conse- 
cration. The  African  bishops  were  divided,  and  Donatus 
headed  the  partisans  of  Majorinus.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
affair  being  brought  before  the  emperor,  he  referred  the 
judgment  to  three  bishops  of  Gaul,  Maternus  of  Cologne, 
Reticius  of  Autun,  and  Marinus  of  Arles,r  conjointly  with 
the  pope  Miltiades.  These  prelates,  in  a  council  held  at 
Rome  in  313,  composed  of  fifteen  Italian  bishops,  in 
which  Cecilianus  and  Donatus  appeared,  each  with  ten 
bishops  of  their  party,  decided  in  favour  of  Cecilianus  ; 
but  the  division  soon  being  renewed,  the  Donatists  were 
again  condemned  by  the  council  of  Aries  in  3)4;  and 
lastly  by  an  edict  of  Constantine,  of  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber 316.  Donatus,  who  was  returned  to  Africa,  there 
received  the  sentence  of  deposition  and  of  excommunica- 
tion pronounced  against  him  by  pope  Miltiades. 2 

DONATUS,  bishop  of  Carthage,  has  likewise  the  credit 
of  having  given  the  name  to  the  sect  of  Donatists,  founded 
it  is  said,  by  the  former,  but  which  took  its  name  from  this 
Donatus,  as  being  the  more  considerable  man  of  the  two. 
He  maintained,  that  though  the  three  persons  in  the 
trinity  were  of  the  same  substance,  yet  the  son  was  in- 
ferior to  the  father,  and  the  holy  ghost  to  the  son.  He 
began  to  be  known  about  the  year  329,  and  greatly  con- 
firmed his  faction  by  his  character  and  writings.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  parts  and  learning  ;  but  of  greater  pride. 

1  Greswell's  Mam.  of  Politianus,  &c.— Moreri. — Diet,  Hist. — Gen.  Diet— - 
Tiraboschi.  8  Dupin.— Mosbeim.— Aliluer's  Ch.  Hist.  vol.  II.  p.  47. 


240  D  O  N  A  T  U  S. 

He  did  not  spare  even  the  emperors  themselves ;  for  when 
Paulus  and  Macarius  were  sent  by  Constans  with  presents 
to  the  churches  of  Africa,  and  with  alms  to  relieve  the 
poor,  he  received  them  in  the  most  reproachful  manner, 
rejected  their  presents  with  scorn,  and  asked  in  a  kind  of 
fury,  "  What  had  the  emperor  to  do  with  the  church  ?" 
He  was  banished  from  Carthage  about  the  year  356,  ac- 
cording to  Jerom,  and  died  in  exile  :  though  authors  are 
not  agreed  as  to  the  precise  time  either  of  his  banishment 
or  of  his  death.  The  emperors  were  obliged  to  issue 
many  severe  edicts  to  restrain  the  fury  and  intemperance 
of  this  very  factious  sect.  The  Donatists  had  a  great 
number  of  bishops  and  laity  of  their  party;  some  of  whom 
distinguished  themselves  by  committing  outrages  upon 
those  who  differed  from  them.  They  had  a  maxim  which 
they  firmly  maintained  upon  all  occasions,  "  That  the 
church  was  every  where  sunk  and  extinguished,  excepting 
in  the  small  remainder  amongst  themselves  in  Africa."  They 
also  affirmed  baptism  in  other  churches  to  be  null,  and  of 
no  effect;  while  other  churches  allowed  it  to  be  valid  in 
theirs  ;  from  which  they  inferred,  that  it  was  the  safer  to 
join  that  community  where  baptism  was  acknowledged 
by  both  parties  to  be  valid,  than  that  where  it  was  allowed 
to  be  so  only  by  one. 

Notwithstanding  the  severities  they  suffered,  it  appears 
that  they  had  a  very  considerable  number  of  churches, 
towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  ;  and  could  number 
among  them  no  less  than  400  bishops;  but  at  this  time 
they  began  to  decline,  on  account  of  a  schism  among 
themselves,  occasioned  by  the  election  of  two  bishops,  in 
the  room  of  Parmenian,  the  successor  of  Donatus;  one 
party  elected  Primian,  and  were  called  Primianists,  and 
another  Maximian,  and  were  called  Maximianists.  The 
decline  was  also  precipitated  by  the  zealous  opposi- 
tion of  St.  Augustin,  and  by  the  violent  measures  which 
were  pursued  against  them  by  order  of  the  emperor  Ho- 
norius,  at  the  solicitation  of  two  councils  held  at  Carthage; 
the  one  in  the  year  404,  and  the  other  in  the  year  411. 
Many  of  them  were  fined,  their  bishops  were  banisiied, 
and  some  put  to  death.  This  sect  revived  and  multiplied 
under  the  protection  of  the  Vandals,  who  invadi  d  Africa 
in  the  year  427,  and  took  possession  of  this  province  ;  but 
it  sunk  again  under  new  severities,  when  their  empire  was 
overturned  in  the  year  534.  Nevertheless,  they  remained 


D  O  N  A  T  U  S.  241 

in  a  separate  body  till  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  when 
Gregory,  the  Roman  pontiff,  used  various  methods  for  sup- 
pressing them  ;  and  there  are  few  traces  to  be  found  of 
the  Donatists  after  this  period.  They  were  distinguished 
by  other  appellations ;  as  Circumce/liones,  Montenses,  or 
mountaineers,  Campites,  Rupites,  &c.  They  held  three 
councils,  or  conciliabules  ;  one  at  Cirta,  in  Numidia,  and 
two  at  Carthage.1 

DONATUS  (vEuus),  a  celebrated  grammarian  in  the 
fourth  century,  wrote  a  grammar,  which  long  continued  in 
the  schools,  and  notes  upon  Terence  and  Virgil.  Vossius 
mentions  him  amongst  his  Latin  historians,  on  account  of 
the  lives  of  Virgil  and  Terence,  of  which  some  have  fan- 
cied him  to  be  the  author ;  but  he  believes  that  the  first 
was  written  by  Tiberius  Claudius  Donatus,  as  it  is  certain 
the  latter  was  by  Suetonius.  Our  Donatus  flourished  in 
the  time  of  Constantius,  and  taught  rhetoric  and  polite 
literature  at  Rome  with  applause,  in  the  year  356,  and 
afterwards ;  about  which  time  St.  Jerom,  who  has  several 
times  mentioned  him  as  his  master,  studied  grammar  under 
him.  Jerom  also  speaks  of  his  commentaries  upon  Terence 
and  Virgil ;  and  in  his  own  commentary  upon  the  first 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  verse  9th,  he  quotes 
a  verse  out  of  Terence,  and  then  an  observation  of  his 
master  Donatus  upon  it,  which  was  probably  made  yi  his 
lectures,  as  it  does  not  now  appear  in  the  notes  of  Do- 
natus upon  Terence.  Donatus  has  given  ample  employ- 
ment to  the  Bibliographers,  who  all  speak  of  the  "  Editio 
Tabellaris,  sine  ulla  nota"  of  his  Grammar,  as  one  of  the 
first  efforts  at  printing  by  means  of  letters  cut  on  wooden 
blocks.  This  work  has  been  printed  with  several  titles, 
as  "  Donatus,"  "  Donatus  minor,"  "  Donatus  pro  pue- 
rulis,"  &c.  ;  but  the  work  is  the  same,  viz.  Elements  of 
the  Latin  language  for  the  use  of  children.  Dr.  Clarke 
has  given  an  account  of  twelve  editions,  all  of  great  rarity, 
one  of  which,  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  is  described  by  Mr. 
Dibdin.  His  "  Commentarii  in  quinque  Comujclias  Te- 
rentii,"  was  first  printed  without  a  date,  probably  before 
1460,  and  reprinted  in  1471,  1476;  and  his  "  Commen- 
tarius  in  Virgilium,"  fol.  was  printed  at  Venice  in  1529.* 

1  Dupin — Mosheim. — Milner's  Ch.  Hist.  vol.  II.  p.  47. 

2  Vossius. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Lat. — Lardner. — Dibditi's  Typographical  Antiqui- 
ties, vol.  11. — Clarke's  Bibliographical  Dictionary, 

VOL.  XII.  R 


S42  D  O  N  D  E. 

DONDE,  or  DONDUS  (JAMES),  a  famous  physician 
of  Padua,  surnamed  Aggregator,  on  account  of  the  great 
quantity  of  remedies  he  had  made,  was  not  less  versed  in 
mathematics  than  in  medicine.  He  invented  a  clock  of  a 
new  construction,  which  shewed  not  only  the  hours  of  the 
day  and  night,  the  days  of  the  month,  and  the  festivals  of 
the  year,  but  also  the  annual  course  of  the  sun,  and  that 
of  the  moon.  The  success  of  this  invention  got  him  the 
appellation  of  Horologius,  a  name  ever  afterwards  re- 
tained hy  the  family.  It  was  likewise  Dondus  who  first 
found  out  the  secret  of  making  salt  from  the  waters  of 
Albano,  in  the  Pacluan,  which  is  described  in  a  posthu- 
mous treatise,  "  De  fluxu  et  refluxu  Maris,"  1571.  He 
died  in  1350,  leaving  several  works  in  physics  and  medi- 
cine. We  have  by  him  :  "  Promptuarium  medicinae," 
Venice,  1481,  folio;  and  in  company  with  John  de  Don- 
dis,  his  son,  "  De  fontibus  calidis  Patavini  agri,"  in  a 
treatise  "  De  Balneis,"  Venice,  1553,  folio.  * 

DONDUCCI  (GEORGE  ANDREW),  a  Bolognese  artist, 
born  in  1575,  was  called  II  Mastelletta,  from  his  father's 
trade,  that  of  a  pail-maker;  and  seems  to  have  been  born 
a  painter.  He  was  a  pupil  of  the  Caracci,  but  did  not 
attend  to  their  suggestions  on  the  necessity  of  acquiring  a 
competent  foundation  for  drawing,  and  contrived  to  catch 
the  eye  by  a  more  compendious  method  ;  surrounding  a 
splendid  centre  by  impenetrable  darkness,  which  absorbed 
every  trace  of  outline.  It  is  probable  that  his  success 
greatly  contributed  to  encourage  that  set  of  painters  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  Tenebrosi,  shade-hunters,  so 
numerous  afterwards  in  the  Venetian  and  Lombard  schools. 
Donducci  was  distinguished,  though  not  by  correctness, 
by  a  great  spirit  of  design,  a  sufficient  imitation  of  Parmi- 
giano,  whom  he  exclusively  admired,  and  a  certain  native 
facility  which  enabled  him  to  colour  the  largest  dimen- 
sions of  canvas  in  a  little  time.  He  failed  in  his  attempts 
at  changing  this  manner,  as  he  grew  older  and  more  im- 
patient of  the  praise  bestowed  on  an  open  style.  Light, 
BO  longer  supported  by  obscurity,  served  only  to  expose 
his  weakness  ;  and  the  two  miracles  of  S.  Domenico,  in 
the  church  of  that  saint,  which  had  been  considered  as  his 
master-pieces,  became  by  alteration  the  meanest  of  his 
works.  The  same  diversity  of  manner  is  observable  in  his 
smaller  pictures ;  those  of  the  first,  such  as  the  Miracle  of 

1  Moreri.— Mangel. — Haller's  Bibl.  Mci  Pract 


D  O  N  D  U  C  C  I.  24S 

tJie  Manna,  in  the  Spada  palace,  are  as  highly  valuable  as 
his  landscapes,  which  in  many  galleries  would  be  taken  for 
works  of  the  Caracci,  were  they  not  discriminated  by  that 
original  shade  that  stamps  the  genuine  style  of  Mastelletta. 
The  time  of  his  death  is  not  ascertained.1 

DONEAU  (HUGH),  in  Latin  Donellus,  one  of  the  most 
learned  civilians  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  at 
Chalons  on  the  Saone,  in  1537.  His  school-master  had 
so  disheartened  nim  by  severity,  that  neither  threats  nor 
promises  could  make  him  remain  in  school.  But  at  last, 
being  afraid  he  should  be  placed  in  a  menial  situation,  he 
applied  more  diligently  to  his  studies.  He  learned  civil 
law  at  Toulouse,  under  the  professors  John  Corrasius  and 
Arnold  du  Ferrier,  who  had  no  less  than  four  thousand 
auditors.  He  was  admitted  to  the  decree  of  D.  C.  L.  at 

o 

Bourges,  in  1551,  and  professed  that  science  in  the  same 
city  with  Duaren,  Hotman,  and  Cujacius,  and  afterwards 
at  Orleans.  He  was  very  near  being  killed  in  the  mas- 
sacre of  1572,  because  he  was  a  protestant ;  and  could 
not  have  escaped  the  violence  of  the  murtherers,  if  some 
of  his  scholars,  who  were  Germans  by  nation,  had  not 
saved  him  by  disguising  him  in  a  German  dress,  as  one  of 
their  domestics.  He  had  embraced  the  reformation  whea 
rery  young,  at  the  instigation  of  his  sister.  He  staid  some 
time  at  Geneva,  and  afterwards  he  went  into  the  palati- 
nate, where  he  taught  the  civil  law  in  the  university  of 
Heidelbergh.  He  was  invited  to  Leyden  in  1575,  to  take 
upon  him  the  same  employment,  which  he  accepted  and 
discharged  in  a  worthy  manner,  but  baring  imprudently 
engaged  himself  in  some  political  disputes,  he  was  forced 
to  leave  Holland  in  1588.  He  returned  to  Germany,  and 
was  professor  of  law  at  Altorf  until  his  death,  May  4,  1 591. 
He  had  so  happy  a  memory,  that  he  knew  the  whole  Cor- 
pus Juris  by  heart.  His  works,  most  of  which  had  been 
published  separately,  were  collected  under  the  title ,  of 
"  Commentaria  de  jure  civili,"  5  vols.  folio,  reprinted  at 
Lucca,  12  vols.  folio,  of  which  the  last  appeared  in  1770. 
2.  "  Opera  Posthuma,"  8vo.  The  most  valuable  of  his 
writings,  is  his  book  on  the  subject  of  last  wills  and  tes- 
taments, which  he  is  said  to  have  treated  with  great  learn- 
ing and  precision.8 

1   Pilkington,  edit.  1810. 

8  Gen.  Diet. — Niceion,  vol.  XXXIIT.— Moreri.  —  Freheil  Tbeatrum.  —  Bur» 
»an's  Syllog*  Epistolamm, — Saxii  Onomast. 

ft   2 


244  DON  I. 

DONI  (ANTHONY  FRANCIS),  a  Florentine,  first  a  monk 
and  then  a  secular  priest,  died  in  1574,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
one.     He  was  member  of  the  academy  of  the  Peregrini,  in 
which  he  took  the  academical  name  of  Bizzaro,  perfectly 
suitable  to  his  satirical  and  humourous  character.     Some 
of  his  works  are,   1.  "  Letters,"  in  Italian,   Svo.     2.  "  La 
Libraria,"    1557,    Svo.     3.    "  La   Zucca,"    1565,  4   parts, 
Svo,   with   plates.      4.  "  I  mondi  celesti,  terestri  ed  infer- 
nali,"  4to  :  there  is  an  old  French  translation  of  it.     5.  "  I 
martiii,   cive   Raggionamenti  fatti  a  i  marmi  di  Fiorenza," 
Venice,    1552,  4to.     In  all  his  writings,  of  which  there  is 
a  list  of  more  than  twenty  in  Niceron,   he  aspires  at  singu- 
larity, and  the  reputation  of  a  comical  fellow ;  in  the  first 
he  generally  succeeds,  and  if  he  fail  in  the  second,  it  is  not 
for  want  of  great  and  constant  efforts  to  become  so.     Dr. 
Burney  gives  an  account  of  a  very  rare  book  of  his,  entitled 
"  Dialoghi  della  Musica,"  which  was  published  at  Venice, 
1544,  which  the  doctor  never  saw,  except  in  the  library  olf 
Padre  Martini.     The  author  was  not  only  a  practical  mu- 
sician and  composer  by  profession,  but  connected,  and  in 
correspondence  with  the  principal  writers  and  artists  of  his 
time.     Dr.  Burney  also  remarks  that  his  "  Libraria"  must 
have  been  an  useful  publication  when  it  first  appeared ; 
as  it  not  only  contains  a  catalogue  and  character  of  all  the 
Italian   books  then  in  print,  but  of  all   the  MSS.  that  he 
had  seen,  with  a  list  of  the  academies  then  subsisting,  their 
institution,  mottos,   and  employment ;  but  what  rendered 
this  little  work   particularly   useful   to  Dr.  Burney  in   his 
inquiries  after  early  musical  publications,  is  the  catalogue 
it  contains  of  all  the  music  which  had  been  published  at 
Venice  since  the  invention  of  printing. 

There  was  another  DONI,  whose  name  was  JOHN  BAP- 
TIST, a  writer  on  Music,  and  who  left  behind  him  at  his 
death,  about  1650,  many  printed  works  upon  ancient  mu- 
sic, as  "  Compend.  del.  Trat.  de'  Generi  e  de'  Modi  della 
Musica."  "De  praestantia  Musicse  Veteris,"  and  particularly 
his  "  Discorso  sopra  le  Consonanze,"  with  a  great  number 
of  unfinished  essays  and  tracts  relative  to  that  subject,  and 
the  titles  of  many  more.  Few  men  had  indeed  considered 
the  subject  with  greater  attention.  He  saw  the  difficulties, 
though  he  was  unable  to  solve  them.  The  titles  of  his 
chapters,  as  well  as  many  of  those  of  father  Mersennus, 
and  others,  are  often  the  most  interesting  and  seducing 
imaginable.  But  they  are  false  lights,  which  like  ignes 


D   O  N  I.  245 

fatui,  lead  us  into  new  and  greater  obscurity.  The 
treatises  which  he  published  both  in  Latin  and  Italian, 
on  the  music  of  the  Greeks,  being  well  written  in 
point  of  language,  obtained  him  the  favour  and  eulogies 
of  men  of  the  highest  class  in  literature.  He  has  been 
much  extolled  by  Heinsius,  Gassendi,  Pietro  della 
Valle,  and  others.  Apostolo  Zeno,  in  his  learned  notes 
to  the  Biblioteca  Italiana  of  Fontanini,  speaks  of  him 
in  the  following  terms  :  "  We  had  reason  to  hope  that 
the  works  of  Doni -would  have  completed  our  knowledge 
of  the  musical  system  of  the  ancients ;  as  he  united 
in  himself  a  vast  erudition,  a  profound  knowledge  in  the 
Greek  language,  in  mathematics,  in  the  theory  of  modern 
music,  in  poetry,  and  history,  with  access  to  all  the  pre- 
cious MSS.  and  treasures  of  antiquity."  Doni  invented  an 
instrument  which  he  denominated  the  "  Lyra  Barberini," 
or  "  Amphichordon,"  which  he  has  described  in  an  express 
treatise,  but  we  hear  of  it  no  where  else.  He  was  a  de- 
clared foe  to  learned  music,  particularly  vocal  in  fugue, 
where  the  several  performers  are  uttering  different  words  at 
the  same  time,  and  certainly  manifests  good  taste,  and 
enlarged  views,  with  respect  to  theatrical  music  and  the 
improvement  of  the  musical  drama  or  opera;  but  his  ob- 
jections to  modern  music,  and  proposals  of  reform,  not 
only  manifest  his  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  harmony,  but  a 
bad  ear,  as  he  recommends  such  wild,  impracticable,  and 
intolerable  expedients  of  improvement.,  as  no  ear  well 
constructed,  however  uncultivated,  can  bear. 

In  1763,  signior  Bandini,  librarian  to  the  ci-devant 
grand  duke  of  Tuscany,  published  in  2  vols.  folio,  not 
only  the  musical  tracts  of  Doni  which  had  appeared  during 
his  life,  but  others  that  were  found  among  his  MS  papers 
after  his  decease,  some  finished,  some  unfinished,  and  the 
mere  titles  of  others  which  he  had  in  meditation. l 

DONI  D'ATTICHI  (LEWIS),  was  born  in  1596,  of  a 
noble  family,  originally  of  Florence,  and  entered  himself 
of  the  Minims.  Cardinal  Richelieu,  who  became  ac- 
quainted with  him  during  his  retirement  at  Avignon,  was 
so  struck  with  his  modesty  and  learning,  that  he  gave  him 
the  bishopric  of  Itiez,  in  which  diocese  he  did  much  good. 

1  Burney  and  Hawkins's  Hist,  of  Mu>ic. — Moreri. — Nlceron,  vol.  XXXIH,— 
Cen.  Diet.— Marchand.— Clement  Bibl.  Curieuse.— Rees's  Cyclopaedia. 


246  DON  I. 

From  the  see  of  Uiez  he  was  translated  to  that  of  Autun, 
and  died  in  1664,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  He  published, 
1.  "A  History  of  the  Minims,"  4to.'  2.  "The  Life  of 
queen  Joan,  foundress  of  the  Annonciades,"  8vo.  3.  "  The 
Life  of  cardinal  de  Berulle,"  in  Latin,  8vo.  4.  "  The  His- 
tory of  the  Cardinals,"  in  Latin,  1660,  2  vols.  folio,  &c. 
His  Latin  works  are  more  tolerable  in  regard  to  style  than 
those  in  French,  the  diction  of  which  is  become  obsolete.  * 
DONN  (ABRAHAM),  an  ingenious  mathematician,  was 
born  Feb.  6,  17 1 8,  at  Bideford,  in  Devonshire,  where 
his  father  kept  a  mathematical  school,  and  was  reputed 
one  of  the  best  teachers  of  arithmetic,  navigation,  and 
dialing,  in  his  time.  It  appears  from  some  papers  in  MS. 
left  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hervey,  author  of  the  "  Meditations,'* 
that  the  family  name  was  Donne ;  and  that  Christopher, 
the  grandfather,  was  the  first  that  dropped  the  final  e. 
The  subject  of  the  present  article  was  brought  up  under 
the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mudge,  of  Plymouth,  and  his 

successor White,  M.  A.  with  whom  he  made  a  very 

considerable  progress  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages. 
When  he  left  the  grammar-school,  as  far  as  his  health 
would  permit,  he  assisted  his  father  in  his  mathematical 
school ;  and  when  he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age, 
being  at  play  with  some  of  his  schoolmates,  he  fell  from  a 
high  pile  of  deals,  which,  with  his  soon  after  going  a-swim- 
ming  in  a  profuse  sweat,  laid  the  foundation  for  disorders 
which  continued  on  him  till  the  time  of  his  death  ;  so  that, 
from  the  fourteenth  year  of  his  age  to  his  twenty-eighth, 
when  he  died,  he  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  had  the 
blessing  of  health,  even  for  so  short  an  interval  as  a  month. 
^Notwithstanding  this  severe  sickness,  he  studied  the  ma- 
thematics, and  acquired  some  considerable  knowledge  in 
those  sciences  ;  for  he  solved  several  questions  in  the 
Diaries.  As  to  astronomy,  it  seemed  to  have  been  his 
favourite  study  ;  and  he  left  behind  him  the  result  of  hiss 
calculations  of  the  eclipses  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  with  the 
transits  of  Mercury,  for  more  than  ten  years  to  come,  with 
their  delineations.  He  was  assistant  to  Mr.  Hervey  in  his 
studying  the  use  of  the  globes  ;  and  that  pious  clergyman 
preached  his  funeral  serndbn,  July  15,  1746.  His  works 
were  published  by  his  younger  brother,  Benjamin  Donn, 

*  Moreri. 


BONN.  247 

who  about  1756  opened  an  academy  at  Kingston,  near 
Taunton,  in  Somersetshire,  where  he  taught  with  great 
success,  and  where  he  died  in  1798,  after  publishing  some 
mathematical  treatises. ' 

DONNE  (JOHN),  an  eminent  English  divine  and  poet, 
was  born  in  the  city  of  London  in  1573.  His  father  was 
descended  from  a  very  ancient  family  in  Wales,  and  his 
mother  was  distantly  related  to  sir  Thomas  More  the  cele- 
brated and  unfortunate  lord  chancellor,  and  to  judge  Ras- 
tall,  whose  father,  one  of  the  earliest  English  printers, 
married  Elizabeth,  the  chancellor's  sister.  Ben  Jonson 
seems  to  think  that  he  inherited  a  poetical  turn  from  Hay- 
wood,  the  epigrammatist,  who  was  also  a  distant  relation, 
by  the  mother's  side.  Of  his  father's  station  in  life  we 
have  no  account,  but  he  must  have  been  a  man  of  consi- 
derable opulence,  as  he  bequeathed  to  him  three  thousand 
pounds,  a  large  sum  in  those  days.  Young  Donne  re- 
ceived the  rudiments  of  education  at  home  under  a  private 
tutor,  and  his  proficiency  was  such,  that  he  was  sent  to  the 
university  at  the  early,  and  perhaps  unprecedented  age  of 
eleven  years,  or  according  to  Walton,  at  ten.  At  this  time, 
we  are  told,  he  understood  the  French  and  Latin  languages, 
and  had  in  other  respects  so  far  exceeded  the  usual  attain- 
ments of  boyhood,  as  to  be  compared  to  Picus  Mirandula, 
one  that  was  "  rather  born,  than  made  wise  by  study."  He 
was  entered  of  Hart-hall,  now  Hertford  college,  where  at 
the  usual  time  he  might  have  taken  his  first  degree  with 
honour,  but  having  been  educated  in  the  Roman  catholic 
persuasion,  he  submitted  to  the  advice  of  his  friends  who 
were  averse  to  the  oath  usually  administered  on  that  occa- 
sion. About  his  fourteenth  year,  he  was  removed  to  Tri- 
nity college,  Cambridge,  where  he  prosecuted  his  studies 
for  three  years  with  uncommon  perseverance  and  applause  : 
but  here  likewise  his  religious  scruples  prevented  his 
taking  any  degree. 

In  his  seventeenth  year,  he  repaired  to  London,  and 
was  admitted  into  Lincoln's-inn,  with  an  intention  to  study 
law,  but  what  progress  he  made  we  are  not  told,  except 
that  he  continued  to  give  proofs  of  accumulated  knowledge 
in  general  science.  Upon  his  father's  death,  which  hap- 
pened before  he  could  have  been  regularly  admitted  into 

»  Gent.  Mag.  TO!.  LXXIV, 


248  DONNE. 

the  society  of  Lincoln's-inn,  he  retired  upon  the  fortune 
which  his  father  left  to  him,  and  had  nearly  dissipated  the 
whole  before  he  made  choice  of  any  plan  of  life.  At  this 
time,  however,  he  was  so,  young  and  so  submissive  as  to 
be  under  the  guardianship  of  his  mother  and  friends,  who 
provided  him  with  tutors  in  the  mathematics,  and  such 
other  branches  of  knowledge  as  formed  the  accomplish- 
ments of  that  age  ;  and  his  love  of  learning,  which  was 
ardent  and  discursive,  greatly  facilitated  their  labours,  and 
furnished  his  mind  with  such  intellectual  stores  as  gained 
him  considerable  distinction.  It  is  not  improbable,  also, 
that  his  poetical  attempts  contributed  to  make  him  more 
known. 

It  was  about  the  age  of  eighteen,  that  he  began  to  study 
the  controversy  between  the  protestants  and  papists.  His 
tutors  had  been  instructed  to  take  every  opportunity  of 
confirming  him  in  popery,  the  religion  of  his  family;  and 
he  confesses  that  his  mother's  persuasions  had  much  weight. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  piety,  and  her  son,  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  evinced  a  most  affectionate  heart.  Amidst 
these  allurements,  however,  he  entered  on  the  inquiry  with 
much  impartiality,  and  with  the  honest  intention  to  give 
way  to  such  convictions  only  as  should  be  founded  in 
established  truth.  He  has  recorded  in  the  preface  to  his 
"  Pseudo-Martyr,"  the  struggles  of  his  mind,  which  he 
says  he  overcame  by  frequent  prayer,  and  an  indifferent 
affection  to  both  parties.  The  result  was  a  firm,  and,  as  it 
afterwards  proved,  a  serious  adherence  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  reformed  church. 

This  inquiry,  which  terminated  probably  to  the  grief  of 
his  surviving  parent  and  his  friends  of  the  Romish  persua- 
sion, appears  to  have  occupied  a  considerable  space  of 
time,  as  we  hear  no  more  of  him,  until  he  began  his  tra- 
vels in  his  twenty-first  year.  He  accompanied  the  earl  of 
Essex  in  his  expedition  in  1596,  when  Cadiz  was  taken, 
and  again  in  1597,  but  did  not  return  to  England  until  he 
had  travelled  for  some  time  in  Italy,  from  which  he  meant 
to  have  penetrated  into  the  Holy  Land,  and  visited  Jerusa- 
lem and  the  holy  sepulchre.  But  the  inconveniences  and 
dangers  of  the  road  in  those  parts  appeared  so  insuperable 
that  he  gave  up  this  design,  although  with  a  reluctance  to 
which  he  often  used  to  advert.  The  time,  however,  which 
he  had  dedicated  to  visit  the  Holy  Land,  he  passed  in  Spain, 


DONNE.  249 

and  both  there  and  in  Italy,  studied  the  language,  man- 
ners, and  government  of  the  country,  allusions  to  which 
are  scattered  throughout  his  poems  and  prose  works. 

Not  long  after  his  return  to  England,  he  obtained  the 
patronage  of  sir  Thomas  Egerton,  lord  Ellesmere,  lord 
chancellor  of  England,  and  the  friend  and  predecessor  of 
the  illustrious  Bacon.  This  nobleman  appears  to  have 
been  struck  with  his  accomplishments,  now  heightened  by 
the  polish  of  foreign  travel,  and  appointed  him  to  be  his 
chief  secretary,  as  an  introduction  to  some  more  important 
employment  in  the  state,  for  which  he  is  said  to  have  pro- 
nounced him  very  fit.  The  conversation  of  Donne,  at  tiiis 
period,  was  probably  enriched  by  observation,  and  en- 
livened by  that  wit  which  sparkles  so  frequently  in  his 
works.  The  chancellor,  it  is  certain,  conceived  so  highly 
of  him,  as  to  make  him  an  inmate  in  his  house,  and  a  con- 
stant guest  at  his  table,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
mixing  with  the  most  eminent  characters  of  the  age,  and 
of  obtaining  that  notice,  which,  if  not  abused,  generally 
leads  to  preferment. 

In  this  honourable  employment,  he  passed  five  years, 
probably  the  most  agreeable  of  his  life.  But  a  young  man 
of  a  disposition  inclined  to  gaiety,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  most  elegant  pleasures  of  society,  could  not  be  long  a 
stranger  to  love.  Donne's  favourite  object  was  the  daughter 
of  sir  George  Moor,  or  More,  of  Loxley  farm  in  the  county 
of  Surrey,  and  niece  to  lady  Ellesmere.  This  young  lady 
resided  in  the  house  of  the  chancellor,  and  the  lovers  had 
consequently  many  opportunities  to  indulge  the  tenderness 
of  an  attachment  which  appears  to -have  been  mutual.  Be- 
fore the  family,  they  were  probably  not  very  cautious,  for 
in  one  of  his  elegies  he  speaks  of  spies  and  rivals,  and  her 
father  either  suspected,  or  from  them  had  some  intimation, 
of  a  connexion  which  he  chose  to  consider  as  degrading, 
and  therefore  removed  his  daughter  to  his  own  house  at 
Loxley.  But  this  measure  was  adopted  too  late,  as  the 
parties,  perhaps  dreading  the  event,  had  been  for  some 
time  privately  married.  This  unwelcome  news,  when  it 
could  be  no  longer  concealed,  was  imparted  to  sir  George 
Moor,  by  Henry  earl  of  Northumberland,  a  nobleman, 
who,  notwithstanding  this  friendly  interference,  was  after- 
wards guilty  of  that  rigour  towards  his  own  youngest 
daughter,  which  he  now  wished  to  soften  in  the  breast  of 
sir  George  Moor.  Sir  George's  rage,  however,  transported 


250  DONNE. 

him  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason.  He  not  only  insisted 
on  Donne's  being  dismissed  from  the  lord  chancellor's  ser- 
vice, but  caused  him  to  be  imprisoned  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  Samuel  Brook,  afterwards  master  of  Trinity  college, 
and  iiis  brother  Christopher  Brook,  who  were  present  at 
the  marriage,  the  one  acting  as  father  to  the  lady,  the 
other  as  witness. 

Ttieir  imprisonment  appears  to  have  been  an  act  of  arbi- 
trary power,  for  we  hear  of  no  trial  being  instituted,  or 
punishment  inflicted  on  the  parties.  Mr.  Donne  was  first 
released*,  and  soon  procured  the  enlargement  of  his  com- 
panions ;  and,  probably  at  no  great  distance  of  time,  sir 
George  Moor  began  to  relent.  The  excellent  character  of 
his  son-in-law  was  so  often  represented  to  him  that  he 
could  no  longer  resist  the  intended  consequences  of  such 
applications.  He  condescended,  therefore,  to  permit  the 
young  couple  to  live  together,  and  solicited  the  lord  chan- 
cellor to  restore  Mr.  Donne  to  his  former  situation.  This, 
however,  the  chancellor  refused,  and  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  show  the  opinion  he  entertained  of  sir  George's  conduct. 
His  lordship  owned  that  "  he  was  unfeignedly  sorry  for 
what  he  had  done,  yet  it  was  inconsistent  with  his  plac^ 
and  credit  to  discharge  and  re-admit  servants  at  the  request 
of  passionate  petitioners."  Lady  Ellesmere  also  probably 
felt  the  severity  of  this  remark,  as  her  unwearied  solicita- 
tions had  induced  the  chancellor  to  adopt  a  measure  which 
he  supposed  the  world  would  regard  as  capricious,  and  in-» 
consistent  with  his  character. 

Whatever  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  the  privileges  of 
a  parent,  the  conduct  of  sir  George  Moor,  on  this  occa- 
sion, seems  entitled  to  no  indulgence.  He  neither  felt  as 
a  father,  nor  acted  as  a  wise  man.  His  object  in  request- 
ing his  son-in-law  to  be  restored  to  the  chancellor's  ser- 
vice, was  obviously  that  he  might  be  released  from  the 
expence  of  maintaining  him  and  his  wife  ;  for,  when  dis- 
appointed in  this,  he  refused  them  any  assistance.  This 
harshness  reduced  Mr.  Donne  to  a  situation  the  most  dis- 
tressing. His  estate,  the  three  thousand  pounds  before 
mentioned,  had  been  nearly  expended  on  his  education 

*  He  date?  a  letter  to  sir  H.  GooJere,  dates,  and  takes  no  notice  of  this  cir- 

June  15,  1607,  in  which  he  expresses  cumstatice.     Donne's    Letters,    p.  81. 

some   hopes  of  obtaining   a   place    at  In  another  letter  he  makes  interest  for 

court  in  the  queen's  household.     This  the  place  of  one  of  his  majesty's  secre- 

may  have  been  soon  after   his  release,  taries  in  Ireland,  but  this  has  no  date, 

but  his  biographer,  Walton,  gives /few  Ibid.  p.  145. 


DONNE.  251 

and  during  his  travels;  and  he  had  now  no  employment 
that  could  enable  him  to  support  a  wife,  accustomed  to 
ease  and  respect,  with  even  the  decent  necessaries  of  life. 
These  sorrows,  however,  were  considerably  lessened  by 
the  friendship  of  sir  Francis  Wooley,  son  to  lady  Elles- 
mere  by  her  first  husband  sir  John  Wooley  of  Pit  ford  in 
Surrey,  knt.  In  this  gentleman's  house  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Donne 
resided  for  many  years,  and  were  treated  with  an  ease  and 
kindness  which  moderated  the  sense  of  dependence,  and. 
which  they  repaid  with  attentions  that  appear  to  have 
gratified  and  secured  the  affection  of  their  benevolent 
relation. 

It  has  already  been  noticed  that  in  his  early  years  he 
had  examined  the  state  of  the  controversy  between  the 
popish  and  protestant  churches,  the  result  of  which  was 
his  firm  attachment  to  the  latter.  But  this  was  not  the 
only  consequence  of  a  course  of  reading  in  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion  were  necessarily  to  be  traced  to  their 
purer  sources.  He  appears  to  have  contracted  a  pious 
turn  of  mind,  which  although  occasionally  interrupted  by 
the  intrusions  of  gay  life,  and  an  intercourse  with  foreign 
nations  and  foreign  pleasures,  became  habitual,  and  was 
probably  increased  by  the  distresses  brought  on  his  family 
in  consequence  of  his  imprudent  marriage.  That  this  was 
the  case  appears  from  an  interesting  part  of  his  history, 
during-  his  residence  with  sir  Francis  Wooley,  when  he 
was  solicited  to  take  orders.  Among  the  friends  whom  his 
talents  procured  him,  was  the  learned  Dr.  Morton,  after- 
wards bishop  of  Durham,  who  first  made  this  proposal,  but 
with  a  reserve  which  does  him  much  honour,  and  proves 
the  truest  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  church.  The  cir- 
cumstance is  so  remarkable  that  no  apology  can  be  neces- 
sary for  giving  it  in  the  words  of  his  biographer : 

"  Dr.  Morton  sent  to  Mr.  Donne,  and  intreated  to  bor- 
row an  hour  of  his  time  for  a  conference  the  next  day. 
After  their  meeting,  there  was  not  many  minutes  passed 
before  he  spake  to  Mr.  Donne  to  this  purpose:  '  Mr. Donne, 
the  occasion  of  sending  for  you  is  to  propose  to  you,  what 
I  have  otten  revolved  in  my  own  thought  since  1  saw  you 
last,  which  nevertheless  I  will  not  declare  but  upon  this 
condition,  that  you  shall  not  return  me  a  present  answer, 
but  forbear  three  days,  and  bestow  some  part  of  that  time 
in  fasting  and  prayer,  and  after  a  serious  consideration  of 
what  I  shall  propose,  then  return  to  me  with  your  answer. 


252  DON  N  E. 

Deny  me  not,  Mr.  Donne,  for  it  is  the  effect  of  a  true  love, 
which  I  would  gladly  pay  as  a  debt  due  for  yours  to  me." 
This  request  being  granted,  the  doctor  expressed  himself 
thus  :  '  Mr.  Donne,  I  know  your  education  and  abilities  ; 
I  know  your  expectation  of  a  state  employment,  and  I 
know  your  fitness  for  it,  and  I  know  too,  the  many  delays 
and  contingencies  that  attend  court-promises  ;  and  let  me 
tell  you,  that  my  love,  begot  by  our  long  friendship  and 
your  merits,  hath  prompted  me  to  such  an  inquisition  after 
your  present  temporal  estate,  as  makes  me  no  stranger  to 
your  necessities,  which  I  know  to  be  such  as  your  generous 
spirit  could  not  bear,  if  it  were  not  supported  with  a  pious 
patience :  You  know  I  have  formerly  persuaded  you  to 
wave  your  court-hopes,  and  enter  into  holy  orders  ;  which 
I  now  again  persuade  you  to  embrace,  with  this  reason 
added  to  my  former  request :  The  king  hath  yesterday 
made  me  dean  of  Gloucester,  and  I  am  also  possessed  of  a 
benefice,  the  profits  of  which  are  equal  to  those  of  my 
deanery  :  I  will  think  my  deanery  enough  for  my  mainte- 
nance (who  am  and  resolve  to  die  a  single  man),  and  will 
quit  my  benefice,  and  estate  you  in  it  (which  the  patron  is 
willing  I  shall  do),  if  God  shall  incline  your  heart  to  em- 
brace this  motion.  Remember,  Mr.  Donne,  no  man's  edu- 
cation or  parts  make  him  too  good  for  this  employment, 
which  is  to  be  an  ambassador  for  the  God  of  glory  ;  that 
God,  who,  by  a  vile  death,  opened  the  gates  of  life  to 
mankind.  Make  me  no  present  answer,  but  remember 
your  promise,  and  return  to  me  the  third  day  with  your 
resolution.' 

"  At  the  hearing  of  this,  Mr.  Donne's  faint  breath  and 
perplexed  countenance  gave  a  visible  testimony  of  an  in- 
ward conflict;  but  he  performed  his  promise,  and  departed 
without  returning  an  answer  till  the  third  day,  and  theft 
his  answer  was  to  this  effect :  '  My  most  worthy  and 
most  dear  friend,  since  I  saw  you  I  have  been  faithful  to 
my  promise,  and  have  also  meditated  much  of  your  great 
kindness,  which  hath  been  such  as  would  exceed  even  my 
gratitude,  but  that  it  cannot  do,  and  more  I  cannot  return 
you  ;  and  that  I  do  with  an  heart  full  of  humility  and 
thanks,  though  I  may  not  accept  of  your  offer  :  But,  sir,  my 
refusal  is  not  for  that  I  think  myself  too  good  for  that 
calling,  for  which  kings,  if  they  think  so,  are  not  good 
enough  ;  nor  for  that  my  education  and  learning,  though 
not  eminent,  may  not,  being  assisted  with  God's  grace  and 


DONNE.  253 

humility,  render  me  in  some  measure  fit  for  it ;  but  I  dare 
make  so  dear  a  friend  as  you  are  my  confessor :  some  irre- 
gularities of  my  life  have  been  so  visible  to  some  men, 
that  though  I  have,  I  thank  God,  made  my  peace  with  him 
by  penitential  resolutions  against  them,  and  by  the  assist- 
ance of  his  grace  banished  them  my  affections  ;  yet  this, 
which  God  knows  to  be  so,  is  not  so  visible  to  man,  as  to 
free  me  from  their  censures,  and  it  may  be  that  sacred 
calling  from  a  dishonour.  And  besides,  whereas  it  is  de- 
termined by  the  best  of  casuists,  that  God's  glory  should 
be  the  first  end,  and  a  maintenance  the  second  motive  to 
embrace  that  calling,  and  though  each  man  may  propose 
to  himself  both  together,  yet  the  first  may  not  be  put  last 
without  a  violation  of  my  conscience,  which  he  that 
searches  the  heart  will  judge.  And  truly  my  present  con- 
dition is  such,  that  if  I  ask  my  own  conscience  whether  it 
be  reconcileable  to  that  rule,  it  is  at  this  time  so  perplexed 
about  it,  that  I  can  neither  give  mvself  nor  you  an  answer. 

9  O  +1  * 

You  know,  sir,  who  says,  Happy  is  that  man  whose  con- 
science doth  not  accuse  him  for  that  thing  which  he  does. 
To  these  I  mio-ht  add  other  reasons  that  dissuade  me,  but 

D 

I  crave  your  favour  that  may  forbear  to  express  them,  and 
thankfully  decline  your  offer.'" 

This  transaction,  which,  according  to  the  date  of  Dr. 
Morton's  promotion  to  the  deanery  of  Gloucester,  happened 
in  1607,  when  our  poet  was  in  his  thirty- fourth  year,  is 
not  unimportant,  as  it  displays  that  character  for  nice  ho- 
nour and  integrity  which  distinguished  Donne  in  all  his 
future  life,  and  was  accompanied  with  an  heroic  generosity 
of  feeling  and  action,  which  is  perhaps  rarely  to  be  met 
with,  unless  in  men  whose  principles  have  the  foundation 
which  he  appears  to  have  now  laid. 

Donne  and  his  family  remained  with  sir  Francis  Woolev 
until  the  death  of  this  excellent  friend,  whose  last  act  of 
kindness  was  to  effect  some  degree  of  reconciliation  be- 
tween sir  George  Moor  and  his  son  and  daughter.  Sir 
George  agreed  by  a  bond  to  pay  Mr.  Donne  eight  hundred 
pounds  on  a  certain  day,  as  a  portion  with  his  wife,  or 
twenty  pounds  quarterly  for  their  maintenance,  until  the 
principal  sum  should  be  discharged.  With  this  sum,  so 
inferior  to  what  he  once  possessed,  and  to  what  he  might 
have  expected,  he  took  a  house  at  Mitcham  for  his  wife 
and  family,  and  lodgings  for  himself  in  London,  which  he- 
often  visited,  and  enjoyed  the  society  and  esteem  of  many 


254,  DONNE. 

persons  distinguished  for  rank  and  talents.  It  appears, 
however,  by  his  letters,  that  his  income  was  far  from  ade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  an  increasing  family,  of  whom  he 
frequently  writes  in  a  style  of  melancholy  and  despondence 
which  appear  to  have  affected  his  health.  He  still  had  no 
offer  of  employment,  and  no  fixed  plan  of  study.  During 
his  residence  with  sir  Francis  Wooley,  he  had  read  much 
on  the  civil  and  canon  law,  and  probably  might  have  ex- 
celled in  any  of  the  literary  professions  which  offered  en- 
couragement, but  he  confesses  that  he  was  diverted  from 
them  by  a  general  desire  of  learning,  or  what  he  calls  in 
one  of  his  poems  "  the  sacred  hunger  of  science." 

In  this  desultory  course  of  reading,  which  improved  hia 
mind  at  the  expence  of  his  fortune,  he  spent  two  years  at 
Mitcham,  when  sir  Robert  Drury  insisted  on  his  bringing 
his  family  to  live  with  him  in  his  spacious  house  in  Drury  - 
lane  ;  and  sir  Robert  afterwards  intending  to  go  on  an  em- 
bassy with  lord  Hay  to  the  court  of  France,  he  persuaded 
Donne  to  accompany  him.  Mrs.  Donne  was  at  this  time 
in  a  bad  state  of  health,  and  near  the  end  of  her  preg- 
nancy ;  and  she  remonstrated  against  his  leaving  her,  as 
she  foreboded  "  some  ill  in  his  absence."  Her  affectionate 
husband  determined  on  this  account  to  abandon  all  thoughts 
of  his  journey,  and  intimated  his  resolution  to  sir  Robert, 
who,  for  whatever  reason,  became  the  more  solicitous  for 
his  company.  This  brought  on  a  generous  conflict  be- 
tween Donne  and  his  wife.  He  urged  that  he  could  not 
refuse  a  man  to  whom  he  was  so  much  indebted ;  and  she 
complied,  although  with  some  reluctance,  from  a  conge- 
nial sense  of  obligation.  It  was  on  this  occasion,  probably, 
that  he  addressed  to  his  wife  the  verses  "  By  our  first  strange 
and  fatal  interview,"  &c.  She  had  formed,  if  this  conjecture 
be  allowed,  the  romantic  design  of  accompanying  him  in 
the  disguise  of  a  page,  from  which,  it  was  the  purpose  of 
these  verses  to  dissuade  her. 

Mr.  Donne  accordingly  went  abroad  with  the  embassy, 
and  two  days  after  their  arrival  at  Paris  had  that  extraor- 
dinary vision  which  has  been  minutely  detailed  by  all  his 
biographers.  He  saw,  or  fancied  he  saw,  his  wife  pass 
through  the  room,  in  which  he  was  sitting  alone,  with  her 
hair  hanging  about  her  shoulders,  and  a  dead  child  in  her 
arms.  This  story  he  often  repeated,  and  with  so  much 
confidence  and  anxiety,  that  sir  Robert  sent  a  messenger 
to  Drur.y-h.QUse,  who  brought  back  intelligence,  that  he 


DONNE.  255 

found  Mrs.  Donne  very  sad  and  sick  in  bed,  and  that  after 
a  long  and  dangerous  labour,  she  had  been  delivered  of  a 
dead  child  ;  which  event  happened  on  the  day  and  hour 
that  Mr.  Donne  saw  the  vision.  Walton  has  recorded  the 
story  on  the  authority  of  an  anonymous  informant,  and 
has  endeavoured  to  render  it  credible,  not  only  by  the  cor- 
responding instances  of  Samuel  and  Saul,  of  Bildad,  and 
of  St.  Peter,  but  those  of  Julius  Caesar  and  Brutus,  St. 
Augustin  and  Monica.  The  whole  may  be  safely  left  to  the 
judgment  of  the  reader. 

From  the  dates  of  some  of  Donne's  letters,  it  appears 
that  he  was  at  Paris  with  sir  Robert  Drury  in  1612*,  and 
one  is  dated  from  the  Spa  in  the  same  year,  but  at  what 
time  he  returned  is  not  certain.  After  his  return,  how- 
ever, his  friends  became  more  seriously  anxious  to  fix  him 
in  some  honourable  and  lucrative  employment  at  court. 
Before  this  period  he  had  become  known  to  king  James, 
and  was  one  of  those  learned  persons  with  whom  that  so- 
vereign delighted  to  converse  at  his  table.  On  one  of 
those  occasions,  about  1610,  the  conversation  turned  on 
a  question  respecting  the  obligation  on  Roman  Catholics 
to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  ;  and  Donne 
appeared  to  so  much  advantage  in  the  dispute,  that  his 
majesty  requested  he  would  commit  his  sentiments  to 
writing,  and  bring  them  to  him.  Donne  readily  complied, 
and  presented  the  king  with  the  treatise,  published  in  that 
year,  under  the  title  of  "  Pseudo-Martyr."  This  obtained 
him  much  reputation,  and  the  university  of  Oxford  con- 
ferred on  him  the  degree  of  M.  A.  which  he  had  previously- 
received  from  Cambridge.  The  "  Pseudo-Martyr,"  con- 
tains very  strong  arguments  against  the  pope's  supremacy, 
and  has  been  highly  praised  by  his  biographers.  War- 
burton,  however,  speaks  of  it  in  less  favourable  terms.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  the  author  has  not  availed  himself 
of  the  writings  of  the  judicious  Hooker,  and  that  in  this, 
as  well  as  in  all  his  prose  writings,  are  many  of  those  far- 
fetched conceits,  which,  however  agreeable  to  the  taste  of 
the  age,  have  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a  class  of  Very  in- 
different poets. 

At  this  period  of  our  history,  it  was  deemed  expedient 
to  select  such  men  for  high  offices  in  the  church,  as  pro- 

*  It  may  be  necessary  to  mention  that  the  dates  of  some  of  his  letters  do  not 
correspond  with  Walton's  narrative  j  aud  i»  is  now  too  late  to  attempt  to  recon- 
cile them. 


256  DONNE. 

mised  by  their  abilities  and  zeal  to  vindicate  the  reformed 
religion.  King  James,  who  was  no  incompetent  judge  of 
such  merit,  though  perhaps  too  apt  to  measure  the  talents 
of  others  by  his  own  standard,  conceived  from  a  perusal 
of  the  "  Pseudo-Martyr,"  that  Donne  would  prove  an  or- 
nament and  bulwark  to  the  church,  and  therefore  not  only 
endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to  take  orders,  but  resisted 
every  application  to  exert  the  royal  favour  towards  him  in 
any  other  direction.  When  the  favourite  earl  of  Somerset 
requested  that  Mr.  Donne  might  have  the  place  of  one  of 
the  clerks  of  the  council,  then  vacant,  the  king  replied, 
*'  I  know  Mr.  Donne  is  a  learned  man,  has  the  abilities  of 
a  learned  divine,  and  will  prove  a  powerful  preacher,  and 
my  desire  is  to  prefer  him  that  way,  and  in  that  way  I 
•will  deny  you  nothing  for  him."  Such  an  intimation  must 
have  made  a  powerful  impression,  yet  there  is  no  reascn 
to  conclude  from  any  part  of  Mr.  Donne's  character,  that 
he  won  I'd  have  been  induced  to  enter  the  church  merely 
by  the  persuasion  of  his  sovereign,  however  flattering. 
To  him,  however,  at  this  time,  the  transition  was  not  dif- 
ficult. He  had  relinquished  the  follies  of  youth,  and  had 
nearly  outlived  the  remembrance  of  them.  His  studies 
had  long  inclined  to  theology,  and  his  frame  of  mind  was 
adapted  to  support  the  character  expected  from  him.  His 
old  .friend  Dr,  Morton  probably  embraced  this  opportu- 
nity to  second  the  king's  wishes,  and  remove  Mr.  Donne's 
personal  scruples ;  and  Dr.  King,  bishop  of  London,  who 
had  been  chaplain  to  the  chancellor  when  Donne  was  his 
secretary,  and  consequently  knew  his  character,  heard  of 
his  intention  with  much  satisfaction.  By  this  prelate  he 
was  ordained  deacon  and  afterwards  priest ;  and  the  king, 
although  not  uniformly  punctual  in  his  promises  of  patron- 
age, immediately  made  him  his  chaplain  in  ordinary,  and 
gave  him  hopes  of  higher  preferment. 

Those  who  had  been  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Donne's  en- 
tering into  orders,  were  anxious  to  see  him  exhibit  in  a 
new  character,  with  the  abilities  which  had  been  so  much 
admired  in  the  scholar,  and  the  man  of  the  world.  But 
at  first,  we  are  told,  he  confined  his  public  services  to  the 
churches  in  the  vicinity  of  London,  and  it  was  not  until 
his  majesty  required  his  attendance  at  Whitehall  on  an  ap- 
pointed day,  that  he  appeared  before  an  auditory  capable 
of  appreciating  his  talents.  Their  report  is  stated  to  have 
been  highly  favourable.  His  biographer,  indeed,  seems 


DONNE.  257 

to  be  at  a  loss  for  words  to  express  the  pathos,  dignity, 
and  effect  of  his  preaching,  but  in  what  he  has  advanced 
he  no  doubt  spoke  the  sentiments  of  Donne's  learned  con- 
temporaries. Still  the  excellence  of  the  pulpit  oratory 
of  that  age  will  not  bear  the  test  of  modern  criticism,  and 
those  who  now  consult  Mr.  Donne's  sermons,  if  they  ex- 
pect gratification,  must  be  more  attentive  to  the  matter 
than  the  manner.  That  he  was  a  popular  and  useful 
preacher,  is  universally  acknowledged,  and  he  performed 
the  more  private  duties  of  his  function  with  humility,  kind- 
ness, zeal,  and  assiduity. 

The  same  month,  which  appears  to  have  been  March 
1614,  in  which  he  entered  into  orders,  and  preached  at 
Whitehall,"  the  king  happened  to  be  entertained  during 
one  of  his  progresses  at  Cambridge,  and  recommended 
Mr.  Donne  to  be  made  D.  D.  Walton  informs  us  that  the 
university  gave  their  assent  as  soon  as  Dr.  Harsnet,  the 
vice-chancellor,  made  the  proposal.  According,  however, 
to  two  letters  from  Mr.  Chamberlain  to  sir  Dudley  Carlton, 
it  appears  that  there  was  some  opposition  to  the  degree, 
in  consequence  of  a  report  that  Mr.  Donne  had  obtained 
the  reversion  of  the  deanery  of  Canterbury.  Even  the 
vice-chancellor  is  mentioned  among  those  who  opposed 
him.  It  is  not  very  easy  to  reconcile  these  accounts,  unles« 
by  a  conjecture  that  the  opposition  was  withdrawn,  when 
the  report  respecting  the  deanery  of  Canterbury  was  proved 
to  be  untrue.  And  there  is  some  probability  that  this  was 
the  case,  for  that  deanery  became  vacant  in  the  following 
year,  and  was  given  to  Dr.  Fotherby,  a  man  of  much  less 
fame  and  interest.  But  whatever  was  the  cause  of  this 
temporary  opposition  at  Cambridge,  it  is  certain  that  Dr. 
Donne  became  so  highly  esteemed  as  a  preacher,  that 
within  the  first  year  of  his  ministry,  he  had  the  offer  of 
fourteen  different  livings,  all  of  which  he  declined,  and  all 
for  the  same  reason,  namely,  that  they  were  situated  at  a 
distance  from  London,  to  which,  in  common  with  all  men 
of  intellectual  curiosity,  he  appears  to  have  been  warmly 
attached. 

In  1617  his  wife  died,  leaving  him  seven  children.  This 
affliction  sunk  so  deep  into  his  heart,  that  he  retired  from 
the  world  and  from  his  friends,  to  indulge  a  sorrow  which 
could  not  be  restrained,  and  which  for  some  time  inter- 
rupted his  public  services.  From  this  he  was  at  length 
diverted  by  the  gentlemen  of  Lincoln's-inn,  who  requested 

VOL.  XII.  S 


258  DONNE. 

him  to  accept  their  lecture,  and  prevailed.  Their  high- 
regard  for  him  contributed  to  render  this  situation  agree- 
able and  adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  his  family.  The 
connexion  subsisted  about  two  years,  greatly  to  the  satis- 
faction of  both  parties,  and  of  the  people  at  large,  who 
had  now  frequent  opportunities  of  hearing  their  favourite 
preacher.  But  on  lord  Hay  being  appointed  on  an  em- 
bassy to  Germany,  Dr.  Donne  was  requested  to  attend 
him.  He  was  at  this  time  in  a  state  of  health  which  re- 
quired relaxation  and  change  of  air,  and  after  an  absence 
of  fourteen  months,  he  returned  to  his  duty  in  Lincoln's- 
inn,  much  improved  in  health  and  spirits,  and  about  a  year 
after,  in  1620,  the  king  conferred  upon  him  the  deanery 
of  St.  Paul's. 

This  promotion,  like  all  the  leading  events  of  his  life, 
tended  to  the  advancement  of  his  character.  While  it. 
amply  supplied  his  wants,  it  enabled  him  at  the  same  time 
to  exhibit  the  heroism  of  a  liberal  and  generous  mind,  in 
the  casfc  of  his  father-in-law,  sir  George  Moor.  This  man 
had  never  acted  the  part  of  a  kind  and  forgiving  parent, 
although  he  continued  to  pay  the  annual  sum  agreed  upon 
by  bond,  in  lieu  of  his  daughter's  portion.  The  time  was 
now  come,  when  Dr.  Donne  could  repay  his  harshness,  by 
convincing  him  how  unworthily  it  had  been  exerted.  The 
quarter  after  his  appointment  to  the  deanery,  when  sir 
George  came  to  pay  him  the  stipulated  sum,  Dr.  Donne 
refused  it,  and  after  acknowledging  more  kindness  than  he 
had  received,  added,  "  I  know  your  present  condition  is 
such  as  not  to  abound,  and  I  hope  mine  is  such  as  not  to 
need  it ;  I  will  therefore  receive  no  more  from  you  upon 
that  contract,"  which  he  immediately  gave  up. 

To  his  deanery  was  now  added  the  vicarage  of  St.  Dun- 
stan  in  the  West,  and  another  ecclesiastical  endowment 
not  specified  by  Walton.  These  according  to  his  letters 
(p.  318)  he  owed  to  the  friendship  of  Richard  Sackville, 
earl  of  Dorset,  and  of  the  earl  of  Kent.  From  all  this  he 
derived  the  pleasing  prospect  of  making  a  decent  provision 
for  his  children,  as  well  as  of  indulging  to  a  greater  extent 
his  liberal  and  humane  disposition.  In  1624,  he  was  chosen 
prolocutor  to  the  convocation,  on  which  occasion  he  deli- 
vered a  Latin  oration,  which  is  printed  in  the  London  edi- 
tion of  his  poems,  1719. 

While  in  this  full  tide  of  popularity,  he  had  the  misfor- 
tune to  fall  under  the  displeasure  of  the  king,  who  had 


DONNE.  259 

been  informed  that  in  his  public  discourses  he  had  meddled 
with  some  of  those  points  respecting  popery  which  were 
more  usually  handled  by  the  puritans.  Such  an  accusation, 
might  have  had  very  serious  consequences,  if  the  king  had 
implicitly  confided  in  those  who  brought  it  forward.  But 
Dr.  Donne  was  too  great  a  favourite  to  be  condemned  un- 
heard, and  accordingly  his  majesty  sent  for  him,  and  re- 
presented what  he  hud  heard,  and  Dr.  Donne  so  com- 
pletely satisfied  him  as  to  his  principles  in  church  and 
state,  that  the  king,  in  the  hearing  of  his  council,  be- 
stowed high  praise  on  him,  and  declared  that  he  rejoiced 
in  the  recollection  that  it  was  by  his  persuasion  Dr.  Donne 
had  become  a  divine. 

About  four  years  after  he  received  the  deanery  of  St. 
Paul's,  and  when  he  had  arrived  at  his  fifty-fourth  year, 
his  constitution,  naturally  feeble,  was  attacked  by  a  disorder 
which  had  every  appearance  of  being  fatal.     In  this  ex- 
tremity he  gave  another  proof  of  that  tenderness  of  con- 
science, so  transcendently  superior  to  all  modern  notions 
of  honour,  which  had  always  marked  his  character.    When 
there  was  little  hope  of  his  life,  he  was  required  to  renew 
some  prebendal  leases,  the  fines  for  which  were  very  con- 
siderable, and  might  have  enriched  his  family.     But  this 
he  peremptorily  refused,  considering  such  a  measure,  in 
his  situation,  as  a  species  of  sacrilege.     "  I  dare  not,"  he 
added,   "now   upon    my  sick  bed,    when  Almighty   God 
hath  made  me  useless  to  the  service  of  the  church,  make 
any  advantages  out  of  it."     This  illness,  however,  he  sur- 
vived about  five  years,  when  his  tendency  to  a  consump- 
tion again  returned,  and  terminated  his  life  on  the  31st  day 
of  March,   1631.     He  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's,  where  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory.     His  figure  may 
yet  be  seen  in  the  vaults  of  St.  Faith's  under  St.  Paul's. 
It  stands  erect  in  a  window,  without  its  niche,  and  de- 
prived of  the  urn  in  which  the  feet  were  placed.     His  pic- 
ture was  drawn  sometime  before  his  death,  when  he  dressed 
himself  in  his  winding-sheet,  and  the  figure  in  St.  Faith's 
was  carved  from  this  painting  by   Nicholas   Stone.      The 
fragments  of  his  tomb  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  church. 
Walton  mentions  many  other  paintings  of  him  executed  at 
different  periods  of  his  life,  which  are  not  now  known. 

Of  his  character  some  judgment  may  be  formed  from, 
the  preceding  sketch,  taken  principally  from  Zoucb's  much 
improved  edition  of  Walton's  Lives.  His  early  years, 

S  2 


260  DONNE. 

there  is  reason  to  think,  although  disgraced  by  no  flagrant 
turpitude,  were  not  exempt  from  folly  and  dissipation.  In 
some  of  his  poems,  we  meet  with  the  language  and  senti- 
ments of  men  whose  morals  are  not  very  strict.  After  his 
marriage,  however,  he  appears  to  have  become  of  a  serious 
and  thoughtful  disposition,  his  mind  alternately  exhausted 
by  study,  or  softened  by  affliction.  His  reading  was  very 
extensive,  and  we  find  allusions  to  almost  every  science  in 
his  poems,  although  unfortunately  they  only  contribute  to 
produce  distorted  images  and  wild  conceits. 

His  prose  works  are  numerous,  but  except  the  "  Pseudo- 
Martyr,"  and  a  small  volume  of  devotions,  none  of  them, 
were  published  during  his  life.  The  others  are,  1.  "  Pa- 
radoxes, problems,  essays,  characters,"  &c.  1653,  12mo. 
Part  of  this  collection  was  published  at  different  times  be- 
fore. 2.  Three  volumes  of  "  Sermons,"  in  folio  ;  the  first 
printed  in  1640,,  the  second  in  1649,  the  third  in  1660. 
Lord  Falkland  styles  Donne  "  one  of  the  most  witty  and 
most  eloquent  of  our  modern  divines."  3.  "  Essays  in 
divinity,"  &c.  1651,  12mo.  4.  "  Letters  to  several  per- 
sons of  honour,"  1654,  4to.  Both  these  published  by  his 
son.  There  are  several  of  Donne's  letters,  and  others  to 
him  from  the  queen  of  Bohemia,  the  earl  of  Carlisle,  arch- 
bishop Abbot,  and  Ben  Jonson ;  printed  in  a  book,  en- 
titled, "  A  collection  of  Letters  made  by  sir  Tobie  Mat- 
thews, knt.  1660,"  8vo.  5.  "  The  ancient  History  of  the 
Septuagint;  translated  from  the  Greek  of  Aristeas,"  1633, 
in  12mo.  This  translation  was  revised  and  corrected  by 
another  hand,  and  published  in  1635,  8vo.  His  sermons 
have  not  a  little  of  the  character  of  his  poems.  They  are 
not,  indeed,  so  rugged  in  style,  but  they  abound  with 
quaint  allusions,  which  now  appear  ludicrous  although  they 
probably  produced  no  such  effect  in  his  days.  With  this 
exception,  they  contain  much  good  sense,  much  acquaint- 
ance with  human  nature,  many  striking  thoughts,  and 
some  very  just  biblical  criticism*. 

One  of  his  prose  writings  requires  more  particular  no- 
tice. Every  admirer  of  his  character  will  wish  it  expunged 

*  We  are  informed  by  a  valuable  The  MS.  which  appeals  to  be  of  the 
correspondent,  to  whom  this  article  is  date  of  Dr.  Donne's  time,  shows  at  least 
indebted  for  other  hints,  that  the  rev.  the  value  placed  on  his  works,  in  the 
W.  Woolston,  of  Adderbury,  is  in  pos-  care  and  pains  then  used  to  make  ac- 
session  of  a  large  folio  MS.  of  Sermons,  curate  transcripts,  or  to  procure  co- 
many  of  which  are  by  Donne,  and  pies  of  them. 
«Mne  of  these  perhaps  not  published. 


DONNE.  26t 

from  the  collection.  It  is  entitled  "  Biathanatos,  a  De- 
claration of  that  Paradox,  or  Thesis,  that  Self-Homicide  is 
not  so  naturally  Sin,  that  it  may  never  be  otherwise."  If 
it  be  asked  what  could  induce  a  man  of  Dr.  Donne's  piety 
to  write  such  a  treatise,  we  may  answer  in  his  own  words 
that  "  it  is  a  book  written  by  Jack  Donne,  and  not  by  Dr. 
Donne."  It  was  written  in  his  youth,  as  a  trial  of  skill  on 
a  singular  topic,  in  which  he  thought  proper  to  exercise 
his  talent  against  the  generally-received  opinion.  But  if 
it  be  asked  why,  instead  of  sending  one  or  two  copies  to 
friends  with  an  injunction  not  to  print  it,  he  did  not  put 
this  out  of  their  power  by  destroying  the  manuscript,  the 
answer  is  not  so  easy.  He  is  even  so  inconsistent  as  to 
desire  one  of  his  correspondents  neither  to  burn  it,  nor 
publish  it.  It  was  at  length  published  by  his  son  in  1644, 
who  certainly  did  not  consult  the  reputation  of  his  father, 
and  if  the  reports  of  his  character  be  just,  was  not  a  man. 
likely  to  give  himself  much  uneasiness  about  that  or  any 
other  consequence. 

Dr.  Donne's  reputation  as  a  poet,  was  higher  in  his  own 
time  than  it  has  been  since.  Dryden  fixed  his  character 
with  his  usual  judgment;  as  "the  greatest  wit,  though 
not  the  best  poet  of  our  nation."  He  says  afterwards  *, 
that  "  he  affects  the  metaphysics,  not  only  in  his  satires, 
but  in  his  amorous  verses,  where  Nature  only  should 
reign,  and  perplexes  the  minds  of  the  fair  sex  with  nice 
speculations  of  philosophy,  when  he  should  engage  their 
hearts,  and  entertain  them  with  the  softnesses  of  love." 
Dryden  has  also  pronounced  that  if  his  satires  were  to  be 
translated  into  numbers,  they  would  yet  be  wanting  in  dig- 
nity of  expression.  From  comparing  the  originals  and 
translations  in  Pope's  works,  the  reader  will  probably 
think  that  Pope  has  made  them  so  much  his  own,  as  to 
throw  very  little  lighten  Donne's  powers.  He  every  where 
elevates  the  expression,  and  in  very  few  instances  retains 
a  whole  line.  Pope,  in  his  classification  of  poets,  places 
Donne  at  the  head  of  a  school,  that  school  from  which 
Dr.  Johnson  has  given  so  many  remarkable  specimens  of 
absurdity,  in  his  life  of  Covyley,  and  which,  following 
Dryden,  he  terms  the  metaphysical  school.  Gray,  in  the 
sketch  which  he  sent  to  Mr.  Warton,  considers  it  as  a 
third  Italian  school,  full  of  conceit,  begun  in  queen  Eliza- 

*  On  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  Satire. 


262  DONNE. 

beth's  reign,  continued  under  James  and  Charles  I.  by 
Donne,  Crashaw,  Cleiveland,  carried  to  its  height  by 
CowJey,  and  ending  perhaps  in  Sprat.  Donne's  numbers, 
if  they  may  be  so  called,  are  certainly  the  most  rugged 
and  uncouth  of  any  of  our  poets.  He  appears  either  to 
have  had  no  ear,  or  to  have  been  utterly  regardless  of  har- 
mony. Yet  Spenser  preceded  him,  and  Drummond,  the 
first  polished  versifier,  was  his  contemporary ;  but  it  must 
be  allowed  that  before  Drummond  appeared,  Donne  had 
relinquished  his  pursuit  of  the  Muses,  nor  would  it  be  just 
to  include  the  whole  of  his  poetry  under  the  general  cen- 
sure which  has  been  usually  passed.  Dr.  Warton  seems 
to  think  that  if  he  had  taken  pains,  he  might  not  have 
proved  so  inferior  to  his  contemporaries  ;  but  what  induce- 
ment could  he  have  to  take  pains,  as  he  published  nothing, 
and  seems  not  desirous  of  public  fame  ?  He  was  certainly 
not  ignorant  or  unskilled  in  the  higher  attributes  of  style, 
for  he  wrote  elegantly  in  Latin,  and  displays  considerable 
taste  in  some  of  his  smaller  pieces  and  epigrams.  At  what 
time  he  wrote  his  poems  has  not  been  ascertained  ;  but  of 
a  few  the  dates  may  be  recovered  by  the  corresponding 
events  of  his  life.  Ben  Jonson  affirmed  that  he  wrote  all 
his  best  pieces  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
His  satires,  in  which  there  are  some  strokes  levelled  at  the 
reformation,  must  have  been  written  very  early,  as  he  was 
but  a  young  man  when  he  renounced  the  errors  of  popery. 
His  poems  were  first  published  in  4to,  1633,  and  12mo, 
1635,  1651,  1669,  and  1719.  His  son  was  the  editor  of 
the  early  editions. 

This  son,  JOHN  DONNE,  was  educated  at  Westminster 
school,  and  removed  from  thence  to  Christ-church,  Oxford, 
in  1622.  Afterwards  he  travelled  abroad,  and  took  the 
degree  of  LL.  D.  at  Padua  in  Italy;  and  June  1638  was 
admitted  to  the  same  degree  in  the  university  of  Oxford. 
He  died  in  1662,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  St. 
Paul,  Covent-Garden.  Wood  tells  us,  that  "  he  was  no 
better  all  his  life- time  than  an  atheistical  buffoon,  a  ban- 
terer,  and  a  person  of  over-free  thoughts,  yet  valued  by 
Charles  II. ;  that  he  was  a  man  of  sense  and  parts;  and  that, 
besides  some  writings  of  his  father,  he  published  several 
frivolous  trifles  under  his  own  name :  among  which  is 
'  The  humble  petition  of  Covent-Garden  against  Dr.  John 
Baber  a  physician,'  anno  1662."1 

1  Johnson  and  Chalmers's  English  Poets,  1810.— Biog.  Brit.  -Walton's  Lire* 
by  Zonch. 


D  O  O  D  Y.  263 

TDOODY  (SAMUEL),  an  ingenious  botanist,  and  the  au- 
ihor  of  some  discoveries  in  the  indigenous  botany,  was 
a  native  of  Staffordshire,  which  he  left  to  settle  in  London 
as  an  apothecary.  He  was  chosen  superintendant  and  de- 
monstrator of  the  gardens  at  Chelsea,  an  office  which  he 
held  some  years  before  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1706.  In  1695  he  was  elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety, and  was  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  Ray,  Plu- 
Jkenet,  and  Sloane,  who  all  bear  testimony  to  his  merit. 
As  he  lived  in  London,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  was 
in  very  considerable  business,  his  excursions  could  not  or- 
dinarily extend  far  from  that  city;  but  in  its  neighbour- 
hood, his  diligence  was  beyond  any  other  example.  He 
struck  out  a  new  path  in  botany,  by  leading  to  the  study 
of  that  tribe  which  comprehends  the  imperfect  plants, 
now  called  the  Cryptogamia  class.  In  this  branch  he 
made  the  most  numerous  discoveries  of  any  man  in  that 
age,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  it  stood  clearly  unrivalled. 
The  early  editions  of  Ray's  Synopsis  were  much  amplified 
by  his  labours  ;  and  he  is  represented  by  Mr.  Ray,  as  a 
man  of  uncommon  sagacity  in  discovering  and  discriminat- 
ing plants  in  general.  The  learned  successor  of  Tourne- 
fort,  M.  Jussieu,  speaks  of  him  as  "  inter  Pharmacopceos 
Londinenses  sui  temporis  Coryphictis."  In  truth  he  was 
the  Dillenius  of  his  time.  There  is  a  long  list  of  rare 
plants,  many  of  them  new,  and  first  discovered  by  Mr. 
Doody,  published  in  the  second  edition  of  Ray's  Synopsis, 
accompanied  with  observations  on  other  species.  There  is 
also  "  The  case  of  a  dropsy  of  the  breast,''  written  by 
him,  and  printed  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  in 
1697,  vol.  XX.  Some  of  his  MSS.  on  medical  and  botani- 
cal subjects  are  in  the  British  Museum. ' 

DOOLITTLE,  or  DOOLITELL  (THOMAS),  an  emi- 
nent nonconformist,  was  born  at  Kidderminster  in  Wor- 
cestershire, in  1730.  Having  discovered  an  early  inclina- 
tion to  learning,  he  was  sent  to  Cambridge,  and  admitted 
of  Pernbroke-hall,  where  he  studied  with  a  view  to  the 
church,  or  rather  to  the  meeting,  as  the  church  was  then 
under  the  controul  of  the  republican  party.  His  first  des- 
tination, however,  was  to  the  law,  and  he  wont  for  some 
time  to  receive  instructions  in  an  attorney's  office  ;  but  his 
master  having  employed  him  to  copy  some  writings  on  a 

1  Pulteney's  Sketches.— Ayscough's  Cat.  of  MSS. 


264  DOOLITTLE. 

Sunday,  he  relinquished  the  business.     It  appears  to  have 
been  after  this  that  he  went  to  the  university,  and  having 
taken  his  degrees  in  arts,  became  a  preacher.     His  first 
settlement  was  at  St.  Alphage,  London-wall.     This  living 
being  then  vacant,  Mr.  Doolittle  appeared  as  a  candidate, 
with  several  others,  and  the  parishioners  preferring  him, 
he  became  their  pastor  in  1654,  and  remained  a  very  po- 
pular preacher,  until  1662,  when  he  was  ejected  for  non- 
conformity.    From  this   he   removed  to   Moorfields,  and 
opened  a  kind  of  boarding-school,  in  which  he  was  so  suc- 
cessful as  to  be  obliged  to  hire  a  larger  house  in  Bunhill- 
fields,    where  he  continued  until  the  great  plague,  and 
then  he  removed  to  Woodford.     After  the  plague  abated, 
he  returned  to  London,  and  saw  it  laid  in  ashes  by  the 
great  fire.     On  this  occasion  he  and  some  other  noncon- 
formists resumed  their  preaching,  and  were  for  some  time 
unmolested.     Mr.  Doolittle  has  the  credit  of  projecting  the 
first  meeting-house,  which  was  a  hired  place  in  Bunhill- 
fields,  but  that  proving  toe  small,  when  the  city  began  to 
be  rebuilt,  he  erected  a  more  commodious  place  of  wor- 
ship in  Mugwell,  or  Monkwell-street,  Cripplegate,  which 
remains  until  this  day.     Here,  however,  he  was  occasion- 
ally interrupted  by  the  magistrates,  who  put  the  laws  in 
execution  ;  but  in  1672  he  obtained  a  licence  from  Charles 
II.  which  is  still  suspended  in  the  vestry-room  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  for  some  time  continued  to  preach,  and  likewise 
kept  an  academy  at  Islington  for  the  education  of  young 
men  intended  for  the  ministry  among  the  nonconformists. 
On  the  corporation-act  being  passed,  when  his  licence  be- 
came useless,  he  was  again  obliged  to  leave  London,  and 
resided  partly   at  Wimbledon,    and   partly   at   Battersea, 
where,  although  his  house  was  rifled,  he  escaped  impri- 
sonment.    At  the  revolution  he  was  enabled  to  resume  his 
ministry  in  Monkwell-street,  and  here  he  closed  the  public 
labours  of  fifty-three  years,  on  May  24,  1707^  the  seventy- 
seventh  year  of  his  age.     Much  of  this  time  was  spent  in 
writing  his  various  works,  many  of  which  attained  a  high 
degree  of  popularity ;  as,   1.  "  A  Treatise  concerning  the 
Lord's   Supper,"    1665,    12mo,  which    has   perhaps    been 
oftener   prii  ted   than    almost   any   book   on    that  subject. 
2.   "  Directions  how  to   live  after  a  wasting  plague"  (that 
of  London),  1666,  8vo.     3.   "  A  Rebuke  for  Sin,  by  God's 
burning  anger"    (alluding  to  the   great  Fire).     4.  "  The 
Young  Man's  Instructor,  and  the  Old  Man's  Kemembran- 


DOOLITTLE. 

cer,"  1673,  Svo.  5.  "  A  Call  to  delaying  Sinners,"  1683, 
12mo,  of  which  there  have  been  many  editions.  6.  "  A 
Complete  Body  of  Practical  Divinity,"  fol.  1723,  &c.  &c. 
His  son,  Samuel,  was  settled  as  a  dissenting  minister  at 
Reading,  where-he  died  in  1717. l 

DOPPELMAIER   (JOHN  GABRIEL),  a  German  mathe- 
matician,  was  born  at  Nuremberg  in  1677,  and  was  first 
intended  by  his  family  for  the  bar,  but  soon  relinquished 
the  study  of  the  law  for  that  of  mathematics,  in  which  he 
was  far  more  qualified  to  excel.     He  became  professor  of 
mathematics  at  Nuremberg,    after   having  travelled   into 
Holland  and  England  to  profit  by  the   instructions  of  the 
most  eminent  scholars  in  that  science.     In  England  he  be- 
came acquainted   with    Flamstead,  Wallis,  and    Gregory, 
and  in  1733,  long  after  he  returned  home,  was  elected  a 
fellow   of  the  royal  society  as  he  was  also  of  the  societies 
of   Petersburgh    and    Berlin.     His  works,  in   German,  on 
astronomy,   geography,  and    mathematics,    are    numerous. 
He  also  published  some  in  Latin  :   "  Nova  Methodus  pa- 
randi  Sciaterica  Solaria/'    1720.     "  Physica  experimentis 
illustrata,"   4to;    "Atlas  Ccelestis,"    1742,  fol.     Doppel- 
maier  made  some  curious  experiments  in  electricity,  at  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  which  he  also  published  ;  and  trans- 
lated  the   astronomical   tables   of    Stretius,    French   and 
English,  into  Latin.2 

DO  RAT.     See  DAURAT. 

DORIA  (ANDREW),  a  noble  Genoese,  the  greatest  ma- 
riner of  his  age,  was  born  in  1468,  at  Oneille,  a  small 
town  on  the  coast  of  Genoa,  of  which  Ceva  Doria,  his 
father,  was  joint  lord.  He  adopted  the  military  profes- 
sion, and  distinguished  himself  for  several  years  in  the 
service  of  different  princes  of  Italy.  On  his  return  to  his 
native  country,  he  was  twice  employed  in  Corsica,  where 
he  fought  against  the  rebels  with  so  much  success,  that 
the  whole  island  was  reduced  to  the  obedience  of  the  re- 
public. In  consequence  of  the  reputation  for  valour  and 
prudence  which  Doria  had  acquired,  he  was  appointed, 
about  1513,  captain-general  of  the  gallies  of  Genoa;  and 
it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  he  was  upwards  of  forty-four 
years  of  age  when  he  took  up  the  profession  of  a  maritime 
warrior.  The  African  pirates,  who  at  that  time  infested 

1  Calamy. — Funeral  Sermon  by  Williams,  and  Funeral  Sermon  on  his  son  by 
Waters. — Memoirs  prefixed  to  his  Body  of  Practical  Divinity. 

2  Diet.  Hist. — Saxii  Onomast, 


r>  o  R  i  A. 

the  Mediterranean,    gave  him  the  first  opportunities  for 
acquiring  fame.     He  pursued  them  with  unremitted  ar- 
dour, and  in  a  short  time  enriched  himself  with  so  many 
captures,  that  the  produce,  joined  to  the  assistance  of  his 
friends,  enabled  him  to  purchase  four  gallics.     The  revo- 
lutions that  soon  happened  in   the  government  of  Genoa, 
determined  Doria  to  enter  into  the  service  of  Francis  I.; 
but  after  that  prince  was  taken  prisoner  at  Pavia,  he  be- 
came dissatisfied  with  the  ministry  of  France,  and  yielding 
to  the  solicitations  of  Clement  VII.  he  attached  himself  to 
that   pontiff,    who   made  him  his  admiral.     Rome   being 
taken  by  the  constable  of  Bourbon,  in  1527,  the  pope  was 
no  longer  able  to  continue  Doria  in  his  pay,  and  persuaded 
him  to  go  back  into  the  service  of  France,  the  sovereign 
of  which,  Francis  I.  received  him  with  open  arms,  and  ap- 
pointed him  general  of  his  gallies,  with  a  salary  of  36,000 
crowns,  to  which  he  afterwards  added  the  title  of  admiral 
of  the  seas  of  the  Levant     Doria  was  then   proprietor  of 
eight  well-armed  gallies.     It  was  to  him  that  the  French 

O  O 

were  indebted  for  the  reduction  of  Genoa,  from  whence 
the   Adorni  were   expelled  that  same  year,    1527.     The 
year  following,  Philippine  Doria,  his  nephew  and  his  lieu- 
tenant, whom  he  had  dispatched  with  eight  gallies  to   the 
coasts  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  in  order  to  favour  the 
operations  of  the  French  army  there,  commanded  by  Lau- 
trec,  gained  a  complete  victory  over  the  naval  armament  of 
the  emperor  at  Capo-d'Orso,  near  the  gulf  of  Salerno.    The 
imperial  fleet  being  now  destroyed,  Naples,  besieged  by  Lau- 
trec,  could  no  longer  receive  succours  by  sea,  and  was  on 
the  point  of  surrendering,    which   would   infallibly  have 
brought    on   the  conquest  of  the  whole  kingdom,    when 
suddenly  Doria  abandoned  France  to  serve  the  emperor. 
This  defection  frustrated  the  enterprise  against  Naples, 
and  effected  the  total  failure  of  the  French  affairs  in  Italy. 
As  to  the  motives  that  led  him  to  this  sudden  change,  it 
should  seem  as  if  the  ministers  of  Francis  I.  jealous  of  the 
influence  of  this  foreigner,  who  besides  treated  them  with 
the  haughtiness  of  a  republican,  and  the  bluntness  of  a 
sailor,  had  endeavoured  to  ruin  him  in  the  king's  opinion, 
and  had  partly  succeeded  in  their  attempt.     Doria,  soured 
and  angry,  only  waited  for  a  pretext  to  give  vent  to  his 
indignation,  which  his  enemies  soon  gave  him.     They  per- 
suaded the  king  to  appropriate  to  himself  the  town  of  Sa- 
vona,    belonging  to  the  Genoese;    to  enlarge  the    port, 


D  O  R  I  A.  267 

and  make  it  a  rival  of  the  metropolis.  In  vain  did  Doria 
make  remonstrances  to  him  in  behalf  of  the  republic,  to 
turn  him  from  his  purpose  ;  they  were  not  only  ill  received, 
but  were  misinterpreted  ;  and  he  was  represented  to  the 
king  as  a  man  that  openly  resisted  his  will.  Nor  did  they 
stop  here;  they  persuaded  the  king  to  arrest  him;  and 
twelve  gallies,  under  the  command  of  Barbezieux,  received 
orders  to  go  first  to  Genoa  to  take  possession  of  his  per- 
son, and  then  to  proceed  to  Naples  to  seize  upon  his  gal- 
Hes,  commanded  by  Philippine  his  nephew.  But  Doria, 
having  foreseen  the  blow,  had  retired  to  Lerica,  in  the 
gulph  of  La  Spezia,  whence  he  dispatched  a  brigantine  to 
his  nephew,  with  orders  to  join  him  without  delay,  and 
thought  himself  authorised  to  act  in  this  manner,  because 
the  term  of  his  engagement  to  the  king  was  just  expired. 
From  this  moment  Doria  made  it  his  chief  business  to  con- 
clude his  agreement  with  the  emperor,  who  had  been  so- 
liciting it  for  a  long  time.  It  will  not  appear  surprizing 
that  Francis  T.  now  sought  by  all  means  in  his  power  to 
regain  Doria;  but  neither  the  most  magnificent  promises, 
nor  even  the  mediation  of  pope  Clement  VII.  could  in- 
duce him  to  alter  his  resolution.  What  must,  however, 
reflect  still  greater  honour  on  the  memory  of  Doria,  was 
his  refusal,  on  this  occasion,  of  the  sovereignty  of  Genoa, 
which  was  offered  him  by  the  emperor.  Preferring  the 
title  of  restorer  to  that  of  master,  he  stipulated  that  Genoa 
should  remain  free  under  the  imperial  protection,  provided 
she  should  succeed  in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  the  French. 
He  thought  nothing  now  was  wanting  to  his  glory,  but  to 
be  the  deliverer  of  his  country  ;  and  the  failure  of  the  ex- 
pedition against  Naples  emboldened  him  the  same  year, 
1528,  to  hazard  the  attempt.  Accordingly,  presenting 
himself  before  Genoa  with  13  gallies,  and  about  500  men, 
he  made  himself  master  of  it  in  one  night,  without  shed- 
ding a  drop  of  blood.  This  expedition  procured  him  the 

title  of  FATHER  AND  DELIVERER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY,    which  W3S 

adjudged  him  by  a  decree  of  the  senate.  The  same  decree 
contained  an  order  for  a  statue  to  be  erected  to  him,  and  a 
palace  to  be  bought  for  him  out  of  the  public  money.  A 
new  government  was  then  formed  at  Genoa,  by  his  advice, 
which  is  the  government  that  subsisted  until  the  late  re- 
volutions in  Europe  ;  so  that  he  was  not  only  the  deliverer, 
but  likewise  the  legislator  of  his  country.  Doria  met  with 
all  the  advantages  he  could  desire  from  his  attachment  to 


268  D  O  R  I  A. 

the  emperor,  who  gave  him  his  entire  confidence,  and 
created  him  general  of  the  sea,  with  a  plenary  and  ab- 
solute authority.  He  was  then  owner  of  twelve  gallies, 
which  by  his  treaty  were  to  be  engaged  in  the  service  of 
the  emperor;  and  that  number  was  now  augmented  to 
twenty-two.  Doria  continued  to  signalize  himself  by  se- 
veral maritime  expeditions,  and  rendered  the  most  im- 
portant services  to  the  emperor.  He  took  from  the  Turks, 
in  1532,  the  towns  of  Coron  and  of  Patras,  on  the  coast  of 
Greece.  The  conquest  of  Tunis,  and  of  the  fort  of  Gou- 
lette,  where  Charles  V.  resolved  to  act  in  person,  in  1535, 
was  principally  owing  to  the  valour  and  good  conduct  of 
Doria ;  but  it  was  against  his  advice  and  reiterated  remon- 
strances, that  the  emperor  in  1541  set  on  foot  the  unfor- 
tunate expedition  to  Algiers,  where  he  lost  a  part  of  his 
fleet,  and  a  great  number  of  soldiers,  and  cost  Doria 
eleven  of  his  gallies.  Nor  was  he  more  favoured  by  for- 
tune in  the  affair  of  Prevezzo,  in  1539.  Being,  with  the 
imperial  fleet,  in  conjunction  with  that  of  the  Venetians  and 
the  gallies  of  the  pope,  in  presence  of  the  Turkish  army, 
commanded  by  Barbarossa,  and  far  inferior  to  his,  he 
avoided  the  engagement  under  various  pretences,  and  let 
slip  the  opportunity  of  a  certain  victory.  For  this  he  has 
been  blamed  by  several  historians.  Some  have  even  pre- 
tended (and,  at  that  time,  says  Brantome,  it  was  the  com- 
mon report),  that  there  was  a  secret  agreement  between 
Barbarossa  and  him,  by  which  it  was  settled,  that  decisive 
opportunities  should  be  mutually  avoided,  in  order  to  pro- 
long the  war  which  rendered  their  services  necessary,  and 
furnished  them  the  means  of  enriching  themselves.  The 
African  corsairs  had  never  a  more  formidable  enemy  to 
contend  with  than  Doria;  the  amount  of  the  prizes  taken 
from  them,  by  himself  or  his  lieutenants,  was  immense. 
The  famous  Dragut,  among  others,  was  captured  by  Jean- 
iietino  Doria,  with  nine  of  his  vessels.  The  zeal  and  the 
services  of  this  great  man  were  rewarded  by  Charles  V. 
with  the  order  of  the  golden  fleece,  the  investiture  of  the 
principality  of  Melphes,  and  the  marquisate  of  Tursi,  in 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever;  to- 
gether with  the  dignity  of  grand  chancellor  of  that  king- 
dom. It  was  not  till  about  1556,  at  the  age  of  near  ninety, 
that  he  relinquished  the  care  of  his  gallies,  and  the  com- 
mand of  them  in  person.  Then,  sinking  under  the  weight 
of  years,  Philip  II.  king  of  Spain  permittee]  him  to  cou- 


D  O  R  I  A.  269 

stitute  John  Andrew  Doria,  his  nephew,   his  lieutenant. 
He  terminated  his  long  and  glorious  career  on  the  25th  of 
November,   1560,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three,  without  off- 
spring, though   he  had  been   married.     He  was  very  far 
from  leaving  so  much  property  as  might  have  been  pre- 
sumed, from  the  great  and  frequent  opportunities  he  had 
of  amassing  wealth,  which  is  accounted  for  by  the  excess 
of  his  magnificence,  and  the  little  attention  be  paid  to  af- 
fairs of  ceconomy.     Few  men,  without  leaving  a  private 
station,  have  ever  played  so  great  a  part  on   the  stage  of 
the  world,  as  Doria  :  at  home  in  Genoa,  honoured  by  his 
fellow  citizens  as  the  deliverer  and  the  tutelar  genius  of 
his  country ;  abroad,  with  his  gallies  alone,  holding,  as  it 
were,  the  rank  of  a  maritime  power.     Few  men  have,  even 
in  the  course  of  a  long  life,  enjoyed  a  more  uninterrupted 
course  of  prosperity.     Twice  was  his  ruin  plotted  ;  once 
in  1547,  by  the  conspiracy  of  John  Lewis  de  Fiesco,  aimed 
principally  at  him ;  but  the  enterprise  failed  by  the  death 
of  its  leader,  at  the  very  moment  of  its  execution  ;  the  se- 
cond time,  not  long  after,  by  that  of  Julius  Cibo,  which 
was  detected,  and  cost  the  author  of  it  his  head.     These 
two   conspiracies  had  no  other  effect  than  to    give   still 
greater  accessions  of  authority  and  fame  to  this  great  man, 
in  Genoa,  and  through  all  Italy.     He  is  accused  by  some 
authors  of  having  been  too  cruel  at  times,  in  support  of 
which  they  cite  this  instance  :  the  marquis  de  Marignan, 
who  took  Porto  Hercole  in  1555,  having  taken  prisoner 
Ottoboni  de  Fiesco,  brother  of  Lewis,  and  an  accomplice 
in  his  conspiracy,  delivered  him  over  to  Doria,  to  revenge 
on  him  as  he  pleased  the  death  of  Jeannetino  Doria,  who 
had  been  slain  in  that  conspiracy.      Andrew,  fired  with 
rage,  ordered  Fiesco  to  be  sewn  up  in  a  sack,  and  thrown 
into  the  sea.     Those  who  have  written   on    the  side   of 
Doria,  have  prudently  passed  over  in  silence  this  action, 
as  unworthy  of  him.     Another  anecdote  is  told,  more  fa- 
vourable, and  characteristic.     One  of  his  pilots,  who  was 
frequently  importuning  him,  coming  up  to  him  one  day, 
told  him  he  had  three  words  to  say  to  him.     "  I  grant  it," 
returned  Doria  ;  "  but  remember,  that  if  thou  speak  more, 
I  will  have  thee  hanged."     The  pilot,  without  being  dis- 
concerted,   replied  :    "  money   or  dismission."      Andrew 
Doria,  being  satisfied  with  this  reply,  ordered  him  to  be 
paid  his  arrears,  and  retained  him  in  his  service. ' 

•  Universal  Hist.— Robertson's  Charles  V.-Life  of  Doria,  by  Richer.-Dict,  Hist. 


270  D  O  R  I  G  N  Y. 

DORIGNY  (MICHAEL),  a  painter  and  engraver,  was  born 
at  St.  Quentin,  in  France,  in  1617,  and  manifesting  an  early 
inclination  for  the  arts,  was  placed  under  Simon  Vonet,  a 
painter  at  that  time  of  great  reputation,  whose  daughter  he 
married,  and  whose  manner  as  a  painter  he  copied,  but  is  bet- 
ter known  as  an  engraver.  He  performed  his  plates  chiefly 
with  the  point,  in  a  bold,  powerful  style  ;  the  lights  are  broad 
and  mass}-,  especially  upon  the  figures.  But  the  marking 
of  the  folds  of  the  draperies,  and  the  shadows  upon  the  out- 
lines of  the  flesh,  are  frequently  so  extravagantly  dark,  as  to 
produce  a  harsh,  disagreeable  effect,  and  sometimes  to  de- 
stroy the  harmony  of  the  engraving  entirely.  Although 
he  understood  the  human  figure,  and  in  some  instances  it 
was  correctly  drawn  ;  yet  by  following  the  manner  of 
Vouet,  instead  of  the  simple  forms  of  nature,  his  outlines 
were  affected,  and  the  extremities  of  his  figures  too  much 
neglected.  This  artist  was  made  professor  of  the  royal 
academy  of  painting  at  Paris,  where  he  died  in  1665,  aged 
forty- eight.  His  works  are  said  by  abbe  Marolles  to  have 
consisted  of  105  prints.  Amongst  these  were,  "  the  Ado- 
ration of  the  Magi,"  the  "  Nativity  of  Christ,"  "  Venus  at 
her  toilet,'*  "  Venus,  Hope,  and  Love,  plucking  the 
feathers  from  the  wings  of  Time,"  "  Mercury  and  ther 
Graces,"  and  "  the  Rape  of  Europa,"  all  from  pictures  of 
Vouet.  He  also  engraved  from  Le  Seur,  Sarasin,  and  other 
masters.  * 

DORIGNY  (LEWIS),  an  historical  painter,  the  son  of 
the  preceding,  was  born  at  Paris,  in  1654,  and  was  taught 
the  rudiments  of  the  art  by  his  father  till  he  was  ten  years 
of  age ;  when,  being  deprived  of  his  instructor,  by  the 
death  of  his  parent,  he  became  a  disciple  of  Le  Brun.  la 
that  school  he  made  a  considerable  progress ;  but  being 
disappointed  in  his  expectation  of  obtaining  the  first  prize 
at  the  academy,  he  travelled  to  Italy,  and  studied  for 
several  years  at  Rome,  Venice,  and  Verona.  He  is  highly 
commended  by  the  French  writers  for  quick  conception, 
lively  colouring,  and  a  spirited  pencil ;  yet  they  acknow- 
ledge that  a  sketch  for  a  cieling  which  he  produced  at 
Paris,  representing  the  Fall  of  Phaeton,  was  so  much  dis- 
commended by  Rigaud,  Largilliere,  and  others,  that  in 
great  disgust  he  returned  to  Verona,  where  he  ended  his 
days.  His  principal  work  is  the  dome  of  the  great  church 
at  Trent.  He  died  at  Verona  in  1742. 2 

*  Strntt's  Diet.  *  Argenville,  TO'.  IV,— Strutt  and  Pilkington. 


D  O  R  I  G  N  Y.  271 

DORIGNY  (Sm  NICHOLAS),  an  eminent  engraver,  the 
brother  of  the  preceding,  was  born  in   France    in   1G57. 
His  father  dying  when  he  was  very  young,  he  was  brought 
up  to  the  study  of  the  law,  which  he  pursued  till  about 
thirty  years  of  age :  when  being  examined,  in  order  to 
being  admitted  to  plead,  the  judge,  finding  him  very  deaf, 
advised  him  to  relinquish  a  profession  to  which  one  of  his 
senses  was  so   ill  adapted.     He  took  the  advice,  and  shut 
himself  up  for  a  year  to  practise  drawing,  for  which  he 
had    probably  better  talents  than   for  the   law,  sinee  he 
could  sufficiently  ground  himself  in  the  former  in  a  twelve- 
month.    Repairing  to    Rome,  and    receiving  instructions 
from  his   brother   Lewis,  he  followed   painting  for  some 
years,  and  having  acquired   great   freedom  of  hand,  he 
was  advised  to  try  etching.     Being  of  a  flexile  disposition, 
or  uncommonly  observant  of  advice,  he  accordingly  turned 
to  etching,  and  practised  that  for  some   more  years ;  but 
happening  to  look  into  the  works  of  Audran,  he  found  he 
had  been  in  a  wrong  method,  and  took  up  Audran's  man- 
ner,  which  he  pursued  for  ten  years.     He  was  now  about 
fifty  years   of  age,  had  done  many  plates,  and  lastly  the 
gallery  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  after  Raphael,  when  a  new 
difficulty  struck  him.    Not  having  learned  the  handling  and 
ri-rht  use  of  the  graver,  he  despaired  of  attaining  the  har- 
mony  and    perfection    at    whicn   he    aimed,  and   at  once 
abandoning  engraving,  he  returned  to  his  pencil — a  word 
from  a  friend,  says  lord  Orford,  would  have  thrown  him 
back  to  the  law.     However,  after  two  months,  he  was  per- 
suaded  to  apply  to  the  graver ;  and  receiving  some  hints 
from  one  that  used  to  engrave  the  writing  under  his  plates, 
he   conquered  that  difficulty    too,  and   began   the  seven 
planets  from  Raphael.     Mercury,  his  first,  succeeded  so 
well,  that  he  engraved  four  large  pictures  with  oval  tops, 
and  from  thence  proceeded  to  Raphael's  "  Transfiguration,'* 
which  raised  his  reputation  above  all  the  masters  of  that 
time.     At  Rome  he  became  known  to  several  Englishmen 
of  rank,  who  persuaded  him  to  come  to  England  and  en- 
grave the  Cartoons,  then  at  Hampton  Court.     He  arrived 
in  June  1711,  but  did  not  begin  his  drawings   till  Easter 
following,  the  intervening  time  being  spent  in  raising  a 
fund  for  his  work.     At  first  it  was  proposed  that  the  plates 
should  be  engraved  at  the  queen's  expence,  and  to  be 
given    as  presents   to  .the    nobility,  foreign  princes,    and 
ministers.     Lord-treasurer  Oxford  was  much  his  friend  ; 


272  D  O  R  I  G  N  Y. 

but  Dorigny  demanding  4000/.  or  5000/.  put  a  stop  to  that 
plan  ;  yet  the  queen  gave  him  an  apartment  at  Hampton 
Court,  with  necessary  perquisites.  The  work,  however, 
was  undertaken  by  subscription  *,  at  four  guineas  a  set, 
and  Dorigny  sent  for  Dupuis  and  Dubosc  from  Paris  to 
assist  him ;  but  from  some  disagreement  that  occurred, 
they  left  him  before  the  work  was  half  completed.  In 
1719  he  presented  two  complete  sets  to  king  George  I. 
and  a  set  a-piece  to  the  prince  and  princess;  for  which 
the  king  gave  him  100  guineas,  and  the  prince  a  gold 
medal.  The  duke  of  Devonshire,  who  had  assisted  him, 
procured  for  him,  in  1720,  the  honour  of  knighthood.  His 
eyes  afterwards  failing  him,  he  returned  to  Paris,  where, 
in  1725,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  royal  academy  of 
painting,  and  died  in  1746,  aged  eighty-nine. 

His  drawing  was  incorrect  and  affected  ;  the  naked  parts 
of  his  figures  are  often  falsely  marked,  and  the  extremities 
are  defective.  His  draperies  are  coarse,  the  folds  stiff  and 
hard  ;  and  a  manner  of  his  own  pervades  all  his  prints,  so 
that  the  style  of  the  painter  is  constantly  lost  in  that  of  the 
engraver.  Nor  did  he  ever  fail  more  than  in  working 
from  the  paintings  of  Raphael.  Basan,  with  an  excusable 
partiality  for  his  countryman,  says  of  him,  "  we  have  many 
excellent  prints  by  his  hand,  in  which  one  justly  admires 
the  good  taste  of  his  drawing,  and  the  intelligent  pic- 
turesque manner,  which  he  acquired  by  the  judicious  re- 
flections he  made  upon  the  works  of  the  great  masters, 
during  the  residence  of  twenty-two  years  in  Italy."  We 
have  of  his  prints  the  following,  viz.  "  St.  Peter  curing  the 
Lame  Man  at  the  gate  of  the  temple,"  from  Civoli ;  "  The 
Transfiguration,"  from  Raphael ;  "  The  Descent  from  the 
Cross,"  from  Daniello  da  Volterra ;  "  The  Martyrdom  of 
St.  Sebastian,"  from  Domenichino,  which  two  last  are  said 
to  be  his  best  prints  ;  "  The  Trinity,"  from  Guido;  "  The 
History  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,"  from  Raphael's  pictures  in 
the  Vatican ;  "  The  Cartoons,"  seven  very  large  plates 
from  the  pictures  of  Raphael.  He  also  engraved  from 
Annibale  Caracci,  Lanfranche,  Louis  Dorigny,  and  other 
masters. l 

DORINGK,  or  THORINGK  (MATTHIAS),  a  writer  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  was  born  at  Kiritz,  in  the  marche  of 

*  Steele  wrote  the  226th  Number  of  the  Spectator  to  encourage  this. 
1  Walpole's  Anecdotes.— Strutt's  Diet. 


DORINGK.  273 

Brandenburgh,  and  was  very  young  when  he  became  a 
monk  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis.  After  studying  philo- 
sophy and  theology  with  distinguished  success,  he  became 
eminent  not  only  as  a  preacher,  but  as  a  lecturer  on  the 
scriptures  at  Erfurt,  and  professor  of  theology  at  Mag- 
deburgh.  He  was  likewise  made  minister  of  his  order  in 
the  province  of  Saxe,  and  held  that  office  in  1431,  at 
which  time  the  Landgrave  of  Thuringia  wrote  several  let- 
ters to  him,  instructing  him  to  introduce  some  reform 
amono1  the  Franciscans  of  Eisenac.  About  the  same  time 
he  was  sent  as  one  of  the  deputies  to  the  council  of  Basil, 
by  that  party  of  his  order  who  adhered  to  that  council.  It 
was  either  then,  or  as  some  think,  ten  years  later,  that  he 
was  raised  to  be  general  of  his  order.  Whether  he  had 
been  dismissed,  or  whether  he  resigned  the  office  of  mi- 
nister of  Saxe,  he  held  it  only  six  years,  and  went  after- 
wards to  pass  the  rest  of  his  days  in  the  monastery  of 
Kiritz,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  meditation  and  study, 
and  wrote  the  greater  part  of  his  works.  The  time  of  his 
death  is  a  disputed  point.  Casimir  Oudin  gives  1494  as 
the  date  of  that  event,  which  Marchand,  with  some  pro- 
bability reduces  to  1464. 

While  he  was  professor  at  Magdeburg,  at  which  time 
strictures  and  objections  against  the  short  commentaries 
on  the  scriptures  of  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  were  published  by 
Paul  de  Burgos,  Doringk  undertook  their  defence  and  far- 
ther illustration.  The  different  pieces  which  he  wrote  on 
these  subjects  were  collected  together,  and  inserted  in  an 
edition  comprehending  the  works  of  both  those  authors, 
published  in  Paris,  in  six  volumes  folio,  in  1590.  This 
work  was  well  received,  and  went  through  several  editions. 

*  w 

To  Doringk  some  have  ascribed  the  "  Miroir  Historial,'* 
commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Chronicle  of  Nu- 
remberg," and  therefore  considered  him  as  the  forerunner 
of  the  illustrious  Luther,  the  Chronicle  being  written  with 
spirit  and  energy  against  the  vices  of  the  cardinals,  the 
bishops,  and  the  popes,  and  also  against  jubilees  and  in- 
dulgences. But  there  is  more  reason  to  think  that  the 
Nuremberg  Chronicle  was  the  work  of  another  hand,  as 
Marchand  has  detailed  at  considerable  length.  It  appears 
that  a  Chronicle  which  Doringk  partly  composed,  may 
have  given  rise  to  this  supposition.  It  is  entitled  "  Chro- 
nica  brevis  et  utilis  ex  speculo  historiali  Vincentii  et  alio- 
rum,  Eusebii,  Hieronymi,  &c.  et  alioruin  historicorum, 
VOL,  XII.  T 


27*  D  O  R  I  N  G  K. 

collecta,  et  continuata  a  Matthia  Doringk,  usque  ad  an- 
num 1494."  This  remains  in  MS.  in  the  library  of  the 
university  of  Leipsic,  but  the  date  at  least  must  be  wrong, 
if  Marchand's  conjecture  as  to  the  period  of  Doringk's 
death  be  just.  He  is  said  to  have  compiled  also  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Chronicle  of  Theodore  Engelhusius  from 
1420  to  1498,  which  is  printed  in  the  collection  of  Ger- 
man historians  by  Mencken.  In  this  Doringk  confessedly 
takes  those  liberties  with  the  characters  of  the  popes  and 
cardinals,  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Nuremberg  Chro- 
nicle, and  such  a  coincidence  may  have  strengthened  the 
supposition  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  latter.  The 
reader  will  rind  all  that  can  be  advanced  on  the  subject  in 
our  first  authority. ' 

DORMAN  (THOMAS)  a  popish  divine,  who  acquired 
some  celebrity  from  the  characters  of  Jewell,  and  Nowell, 
against  whom  he  wrote,  was  born  at  Berkhamstead  in  Hert- 
fordshire, and  educated  by  the  care  of  his  uncle  Thomas 
Dorman,  of  Amersham  in  Buckinghamshire.  He  was  af- 
terwarc'rs  educated  by  Richard  Reeve,  a  very  celebrated 
schoolmaster  at  Berkhamstead,  whence  he  went  to  Win- 
chester school,  and  afterwards  to  New  College,  Oxford, 
where  he  was  admitted  probationer-fellow.  From  this 
college,  however,  he  removed  to  All  Souls,  of  which  he 
was  elected  fellow  in  1554.  He  appears  at  this  time  to 
have  been  popishly  affected,  but  afterwards  avowed  his 
principles  by  quitting  his  fellowship  and  country,  and 
retiring  first  to  Antwerp,  and  afterwards  to  Louvaine, 
where  he  resumed  his  studies.  He  had  taken  his  degrees 
in  law  at  Oxford,  but  now  proceeded  in  divinity,  and 
became  doctor  in  that  faculty.  During  his  abode  at  Lou- 
vaine, he  attacked  Jewrell  and  Nowell,  who  replied  to  him 
in  the  most  satisfactory  manner.  In  1569,  he  was  invited 
to  the  English  college  at  Doway,  where  he  taught  for  some 
time,  and  afterwards  was  beneficed  at  Tournay,  in  which 
city  he  died  either  in  1572,  or  1577.  His  works,  of  which 
a  particular  account,  with  the  answers,  may  be  seen  in 
Mr.  Archdeacon  Churton's  excellent  "  Life  of  Nowell," 
are,  1.  "  A  proof  of  certain  articles  in  Religion  denied  by 
Mr.  Jewell,"  Antwerp,  1564,  4to.  2.  "A  Request  to  Mr. 
Jewell,  that  he  keep  his  Promise,  made  by  solemn  pro- 
testation in  his  late  sermon  had  at  Paul's  Cross,"  London, 

1  Marchand's  Diet.  Hist. — Moreri. 


D  O  R  M  A  N.  275 

1567,  8vo.     3.  "A  Disproof  of  Mr.  Alexander  Nowell'a 
Reproof,"   Antwerp,  1565,  4to.  * 

DORNAVIUS  (GASPAR),  a  physician,  orator,  and  poet, 
born  at  Zigenrick  in  Voiglitland,  died  in  1631,  in  an  ad- 
vanced age,  counsellor  and  physician  to  the  princes  of 
Brieg  and  Lignitz.  He  is  the  author  of  several  works, 
which  have  been  called  learned  fooleries.  The  most  known 
of  them  are,  1.  "  Amplritheatrum  sapientiae  Socraticie,'* 
Hanover,  1619,  2  vols.  fol.  2.  "  Homo  diabolus  ;  hocest: 
Auctorum  veterum  et  recentiorum  de  calumnias  natura  et 
remediis,  sua  lingua  editorum,  sylloge ;"  Frankfort,  1618, 
4to  3.  "  De  increment©  dominationis  Turcicae,"  &c. 8 

DORPIUS  (MARTIN),  a  very  learned  divine,  and  the 
friend  of  Erasmus,  was  born  at  Naaldrvvyck,  in  Holland, 
and  became  professor  of  philosophy  in  the  university  of 
Louvaine.  He  was  also  esteemed  an  able  divine  and 
linguist,  but  died  in  the  prime  of  life,  May  31,  1525. 
Besides  some  academical  orations,  he  published  "  Dialogus 
Veneris  et  Cupidinis,  Herculem  animi  ancipitem  in  suam 
militiam,  invita  virtute,  propellentium;"  "  Complementum 
Aularioe  Plautinae,  et  Prologus  in  Militem  ejusdem ;" 
"  Epistola  de  Hollandorum  moribns ;"  and  "  Oratio  de 
laudibus  Aristotelis,"  against  Laurentius  Valla. 

In  1515,  when  Erasmus  was  at  Basil,  Dorpius  wrote 
against  his  "  Praise  of  Folly."  In  this,  Jortin  says  he  was 
the  first  adversary  of  Erasmus,  or  at  least  the  first  who 
wrote  against  him,  condemning  the  "  Praise  of  Folly,"  as 
a  satire  upon  all  orders  and  professions.  Erasmus  replied 
with  much  mildness;  and  Dorpius,  who  was  then  a  very 
young  man,  not  only  admitted  his  apology,  but  became 
his  friend.  At  his  death  he  was  honoured  by  Erasmus  with 
an  epitaph,  and  deeply  lamented  by  him  as  an  irreparable 
loss  to  the  republic  of  letters. 3 

DORSANE  (ANTHONY),  a  French  divine,  was  born  of  a 
noble  family  at  Issoudun,  and  educated  in  the  seminary  de 
St.  Magloire,  at  Paris,  where  he  took  a  doctor's  degree, 
1695.  After  being  official  at  Chalons,  he  became  canon 
of  the  church  at  Paris,  and  successively  archdeacon,  grand 
chanter,  and  official.  Dorsane  always  opposed  the  bull 
Unigenitus,  and  retired  when  he  found  that  M.  de  No- 

'  Ath.    Ox.   -vol.    I.— Dndd's  Ch.  Hist. — Tanner. — Strype's  Life  of  Parker, 
p.  180. — Churlon's  Life  of  Nowell. — Fuller's  Worthies, 
•  Moreri. — Saxii  Onomast. 

3  Moreri. — I'oppen — Bibl.  Belg. — Jortin's  Erasmus. 

T   2 


276  D  O  R  S  A  N  E. 

ailles  was  about  to  issue  his  mandate  for  its  acceptance. 
He  died  November  13,  1728,  leaving  an  historical  journal 
of  all  that  had  passed  respecting  the  bull  Unigenitus,  which 
extends  to  1728,  6  vols.  12mo,  or  1756,  2  vols.  4to,  which 
last  is  reckoned  the  best  edition. l 

DOSITH^US,  a  reputed  magician  of  Samaria,  of  the 
first  century,  who  pretended  to  be  the  Messiah,  is  looked 
upon  as  the  first  heresiarch.  but  was  more  properly  au 
enemy  to  Christianity.  He  applied  to  himself  all  the  pro- 
phecies which  are  held  by  the  church  to  regard  Jesus 
Christ.  He  had  in  his  train  thirty  disciples,  as  many  as 
there  are  days  in  the  month,  and  would  not  have  any  more. 
He  admitted  among  them  a  woman  whom  he  called  the 
Moon.  He  observed  the  rite  of  circumcision,  and  fasted 
often.  To  gain  belief  that  he  was  taken  from  the  earth 
by  an  ascension  into  heaven,  he  retired  into  a  cavern, 
where,  far  from  the  prying  eyes  of  the  world,  he  starved 
himself  to  death.  The  sect  of  the  Dosithecans  made  great 
account  of  their  chastity,  and  regarded  with  contempt  the 
rest  of  mankind.  A  Uosithaean  would  not  associate  with 
any  one  who  did  not  think  and  live  like  him.  They  had 
some  singular  practices,  to  which  they  were  strongly  at- 
tached :  such  as  that  of  remaining  for  twenty-four  hours 
in  the  same  posture  they  happened  to  be  in  when  the  sab- 
bath began,  which  they  pretended  to  be  founded  upon  the 
prohibition  of  working  during  the  sabbath.  In  conse- 
quence of  such  practices  the  Dosithaeans  thought  them- 
selves superior  to  the  most  enlightened  men,  to  the  most 
virtuous  citizens,  to  the  most  beneficent  of  men.  This 
sect  subsisted  in  jEgypt  till  some  time  in  the  sixth  century, 
but  ecclesiastical  historians  are  much  divided  as  to  the 
history  of  Dosithoeus  and  his  sect.8 

D'OSSAT.     See  OSSAT. 

DOSSI  (Dosso),  an  artist,  was  a  native  of  Dosso  in  the 
Ferrarese  territory,  and  from  the  school  of  Costa  went  to 
Rome,  where  he  studied  six  years,  and  five  at  Venice ; 
and  formed  a  style  which  is  sometimes  compared  to  that  of 
Raphael,  sometimes  to  that  of  Titian,  and  sometimes  is 
said  to  resemble  Coreggio.  His  name,  with  that  of  Gio. 
Batista  his  brother,  has  been  ranked  with  the  first  names 
of  Italy  by  Ariosto,  their  countryman  ;  and  the  pictures  of 
Dosso  prove  that  he  did  not  owe  the  high  rank  in  which 

»  Diet.  Hist.  s  Ibid. 


D  O  S  S  I.  277 

he  is  placed  by  the  poet,  to  partiality.  The  head  of  his 
St.  John  at  Patmos,  in  the  church  a'  Lateran  at  Ferrara, 
is  a  prodigy  of  expression.  Of  his  most  celebrated  pic- 
ture in  the  church  of  the  Dominicans  at  Faenza,  there 
remains  now  only  a  copy :  time  destroyed  the  original. 
It  represents  Christ  among  the  Doctors,  and  even  in  the 
copy  the  simplicity  of  the  composition,  the  variety  of 
the  characters,  and  the  breadth  and  propriety  of  the 
drapery,  deserve  admiration.  Seven  of  his  pictures,  and 
perhaps  of  his  best  time,  are  at  Dresden,  and  the  best 
of  these  is  that  much  praised  one  of  the  Four  Doctors 
of  the  Church.  Dosso,  in  partnership  with  his  brother, 
was  much  employed  in  works  for  the  court  of  Alphonso 
and  Ercole  II.  dukes  of  Ferrara;  and  to  that  connec- 
tion with  him,  a  character  so  much  inferior  to  himself, 
\ve  may  probably  ascribe  the  aspersions  and  illiberal  cri- 
ticism of  Vasari.  The  style  of  Dosso  retains  something 
more  obsolete  than  the  style  of  the  great  masters  with 
whom  he  is  compared  ;  but  he  has  a  novelty  of  invention 
and  drapery  all  his  own  ;  and  withal  a  colour  which  with 
variety  and  boldness  unites  a  general  harmony.  This  ex- 
cellent artist  died  about  1560,  but  his  age  has  not  been 
ascertained. l 

DOUCIN  (LEWIS),  a  French  Jesuit,  a  native  of  Vernon, 
who  died  at  Orleans  Sept.  21,  1716,  filled  several  high 
offices  belonging  to  his  order,  and  was  said  to  have  been 
the  author  of  the  famous  problem  levelled  at  the  cardinal 
de  Noailles,  "  Whom  are  we  to  believe  ?  M.  de  Noailles, 
archbishop  of  Paris,  condemning  the  exposition  of  faith, 
or  M.  de  Noailles,  bishop  of  Chalons,  approving  the  moral 
reflections  ?"  alluding  to  an  apparent  change  in  Noailles* 
opinions  of  the  disputes  between  the  Jansenists  and  Jesuits. 
Doucin  was  a  member  of  the  club  or  cabal  which  the  Jan- 
senists called  the  Norman  cabal,  and  which  was  composed 
of  the  Jesuits  Tellier,  Lallemand,  and  Daniel;  and  his  zeal 
and  activity  were  of  great  service  to  them.  During  the 
dispute  on  the  famous  bull  Unigenitus,  he  was  sent  to 
Rome,  and  was  a  powerful  advocate  for  that  measure.  He 
wrote  a  very  curious  piece  of  ecclesiastical  history,  entitled 
"  Histoire  de  Nestorianisme,"  Paris,  1698,  4to ;  another, 
entitled  "  Histoire  de  I'Origenisme,"  4to,  and  "  Memorial 
abrege  touchant  1'etat  et  les  progres  de  Jansenistne  en 

*  Pilkiugten,  edit.  1810. 


278  D  O  U  C  I  N. 

Hollande,"  written  in  1697,  when  he  accompanied  the 
count  de  Creci  to  the  congress  at  Ryswick.  He  was  also 
the  author  of  many  pamphlets  of  the  controversial  kind, 
strongly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  party. l 

DOUGHTY  (JoiiN),  an  English  divine,  was  born  about 
1598  at  Martley  near  Worcester,  and  educated  at  Wor- 
cester, whence  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  became  a  student 
at  Oxford.  After  he  had  taken  his  bachelor's  degree,  he 
was  one  of  those  excellent  scholars  who  were  candidates 
for  a  fellowship  in  Merton  college,  and  after  a  severe 
examination  by  the  then  warden,  sir  Henry  Savile,  Mr. 
Doughty  gained  the  election.  He  there  completed  his 
degree  of  M.  A.  and  entering  into  orders,  became  a  very 
popular  and  edifying  preacher.  In  1631  he  served  the 
office  of  proctor  only  for  four  months,  the  proctors  being 
removed  by  the  king ;  but  about  that  time  he  became 
chaplain  to  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  his  college 
bestowed  on  him  the  rectory  of  Lapworth  in  Warwickshire. 
On  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  he  left  Lapworth, 
to  avoid  sequestration  and  imprisonment,  and  joined  the 
king  at  Oxford.  Soon  after  Dr.  Duppa,  bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, gave  him  the  lectureship  of  St.  Edmund's  in  that 
city,  where  he  continued  about  two  years ;  but,  on  the  de- 
feat of  the  royal  army  in  the  West,  he  went  to  London, 
and  found  an  asylum  in  the  house  of  sir  Nathaniel  Brent, 
in  Little  Britain.  After  the  restoration,  his  loyalty  and 
public  services  were  rewarded  with  a  prebend  in  West- 
minster, and  the  rectory  of  Cheam  in  Surrey,  and  about 
the  same  time  he  was  created  doctor  of  divinity.  He  died 
at  Westminster,  after  he  had  lived,  says  Wood,  "  to  be 
twice  a  child,"  December  25,  1672,  and  was  buried  in  the 
abbey. 

He  published,  1.  "  Two  Sermons,"  on  the  abstruseness 
of  divine  mysteries,  and  on  church  schisms,  1628,  4to. 
2.  "  The  King's  Cause  rationally,  briefly,  and  plainly  de- 
bated, as  it  stands  de  facto,  against  the  irrational  misprision 
of  a  deceived  people,"  Oxford,  1644,  4to.  3.  "  Velita- 
tiones  polemicae  ;  or  polemical  short  discussions  of  certain 
particular  and  select  questions,"  Lond.  1651  and  1652, 
Svo.  4.  "  Analecta  sacra  j  sive  excursus  philologici,  &c." 
Lond.  1658  and  1660,  8vo.» 

»  Diet.  Hist. 

«  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.— Wood's  Colleges  and  Halls. 


DOUGLAS.  279 

DOUGLAS  (GAWIN),  bishop  of  Dunkeld,  eminent  for 
his  poetical  talents,  was  descended  from  a  noble  family, 
being  the  third  son  of  Archibald,  earl  of  Angus,  and  was 
born  in  Scotland  at  the  close  of  the  year  147-1,  or  the  Be- 
ginning of  14-75.  His  father  was  very  careful  of  his  edu- 
cation, and  caused  him  to  be  early  instructed  in  literature 
and  the  sciences.  He  was  intended  by  him  for  the  church  ; 
and  after  having  passed  through  a  course  of  liberal  educa- 
tion in  Scotland,  is  supposed  to  have  travelled  into  foreign 
countries,  for  his  farther  improvement  in  literature,  parti- 
cularly to  Paris,  where  he  finished  his  education.  Alter 
his  return  to  Scotland,  he  obtained  the  office  of  provost,  of 
the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Giles  in  Edinburgh,  a  post  of 
considerable  dignity  and  revenue ;  and  was  also  made 
rector  of  Heriot  church.  He  was  likewise  appointed  abbot 
of  the  opulent  convent  of  Aberbrothick ;  and  the  queen- 
mother,  who  was  then  regent  of  Scotland,  and  about  this 
« time  married  his  nephew  the  earl  of  Angus,  nominated 
him  to  the  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrew's.  But  he  was  pre- 
•vented  from  obtaining  this  dignity  by  a  violent  opposition 
made  to  him  at  home,  and  by  the  refusal  of  the  pope  to 
confirm  his  appointment.  The  queen-mother  afterwards 
promoted  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Dunkeld  ;  and  for  this 
preferment  obtained  a  bull  in  his  favour  from  pope  Leo  X. 
by  the  interest  of  her  brother,  Henry  VIII.  king  of  Eng- 
land. But  so  strong  an  opposition  was  again  made  to  him, 
that  he  could  not,  for  a  considerable  time,  obtain  peace- 
able possession  of  this  new  preferment ;  and  was  even  im- 
prisoned for  more  than  a  year,  under  pretence  of  having 
acted  illegally,  in  procuring  a  bull  from  the  pope.  He 
was  afterwards  set  at  liberty,  and  consecrated  bishop  of 
Dunkeld,  by  James  Beaton,  chancellor  of  Scotland,  and 
archbishop  of  Glasgow.  After  his  consecration  he  went  to 
St.  Andrew's,  and  thence  to  his  own  church  at  Dunkeld  ; 
where  the  first  day,  we  are  told,  "  he  was  most  kindly  re- 
ceived by  his  clergy  and  people,  all  of  them  blessing  God 
for  so  worthy  and  learned  a  bishop."  He  still,  however, 
met  with  many  obstructions;  and,  for  some  time,  was  for- 
cibly kept  out  of  the  palace  belonging  to  his  diocese  ;  but 
he  at  length  obtained  peaceable  possession.  He  soon  after 
accompanied  the  duke  of  Albany,  regent  of  Scotland,  to 
Paris,  when  that  nobleman  was  sent  to  renew  the  ancient 
league  between  Scotland  and  France.  After  his  return  to 
Scotland,  he  made  a  short  stay  at  Edinburgh,  and  then 


280  DOUGLAS, 

repaired  to  his  diocese,  where  he  applied  himself  diligently 
to  the  duties  of  his  episcopal  office.  He  was  also  a  pro- 
moter of  public-spirited  works,  and  particularly  finished 
the  stone  bridge  over  the  river  Tay,  opposite  to  his  own 
palace,  which  had  been  begun  by  his  predecessor.  We 
meet  with  no  farther  particulars  concerning  him  till  some 
years  after,  when  he  was  at  Edinburgh,  during  the  dis- 
putes between  the  earls  of  Arran  and  Angus.  On  that  oc- 
casion bishop  Douglas  reproved  archbishop  Beaton  for 
wearing  armour,  as  inconsistent  with  the  clerical  character, 
but  was  afterwards  instrumental  in  saving  his  life.  During 
all  these  disorders  in  Scotland,  it  is  said,  that  bishop 
Douglas  behaved  "  with  that  moderation  and  peaceable- 
ness,  which  became  a  wise  man  and  a  religious  prelate  ;" 
but  the  violence  and  animosity  which  then  prevailed  among 
the  different  parties  in  Scotland,  induced  him  to  retire  to 
England.  After  his  departure,  a  prosecution  was  com- 
menced against  him  in  Scotland  ;  but  he  was  well  received 
in  England,  where  he  was  treated  with  particular  respect, 
on  account  of  the  excellency  of  his  character,  and  his 
great  abilities  and  learning.  King  Henry  VII I.  allowed 
him  a  liberal  pension  ;  and  he  became  particularly  intimate 
with  Polydore  Vergil.  He  died  of  the  plague,  at  London, 
in  1521,  or  1522,  and  was  interred  in  the  Savoy  church,  on 
the  left  side  of  the  tomb-stone  of  Thomas  Halsay,  bishop 
of  Laghlin,  in  Ireland  ;  on  whose  tomb-stone  a  short  epi- 
taph for  bishop  Douglas  is  inscribed.  Hume,  of  Gods- 
croft,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Douglases,"  says,  "  Gawin 
Douglas,  bishop  of  Dunkeld,  left  behind  him  great  appro- 
bation of  his  virtues  and  love  of  his  person  in  the  hearts  of 
all  good  men  ;  for  besides  the  nobility  of  his  birth,  the 
dignity  and  comeliness  of  his  personage,  he  was  learned, 
temperate,  and  of  singular  moderation  of  mind  ;  and  in 
these  turbulent  times  had  always  carried  himself  among 
the  factions  of  the  nobility  equally,  and  with  a  mind  to 
make  peace,  and  not  to  stir  up  parties ;  which  qualities 
were  very  rare  in  a  clergyman  of  those  days." 

Bishop  Douglas  is  styled  by  Mr.  Warton,  one  "  of  the 
distinguished  luminaries  that  marked  the  restoration  of 
letters  in  Scotland,  at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  not  only  by  a  general  eminence  in  elegant  eru- 
dition, but  by  a  cultivation  of  the  vernacular  poetry  of  his 
country."  He  translated  the  ,/Eneid  of  Virgil  into  Scottish 
heroics,  with  the  additional  thirteenth  book  by  Mapheus 


DOUGLAS.  281 

Vegius,  at  the  request  of  Henry,  earl  of  Sinclair,  to  whom 
he  was  related.  It  was  printed  at  London,  in  1553,  4to, 
under  the  following  title  :  "The  XIII  Bukes  of  Eneados  of 
the  fainose  poete  Virgill,  translatet  out  of  Latyne  verses  into 
Scottish  metir,  bi  the  reverend  father  in  God,  Mayster 
Gawin  Douglas,  bishop  of  Dunkel,  and  unkil  to  the  erle 
of  Angus  ;  every  Buke  having  his  perticular  prologe." 
"  This  translation,"  says  Mr.  Warton,  "  is  executed  with 
equal  spirit  and  fidelity  ;  and  is  a  proof  that  the  lowland 
Scotch  and  English  languages  were  now  nearly  the  same. 
I  mean  the  style  of  composition ;  more  especially  in  the 
glaring  affectation  of  anglicising  Latin  words."  It  cer- 
tainly has  great  merit,  though  it  was  executed  in  the  space 
of  about  sixteen  months.  It  appears,  that  he  had  pro- 
jected this  translation  so  early  as  the  year  1501,  but  did 
not  complete  it  till  about  eleven  years  after.  Besides  this 
work,  bishop  Douglas  also  wrote  an  original  poem,  called 
*'  The  Palice  of  Honour,"  which  was  printed  at  London, 
1553,  4to,  and  Edinburgh,  1579,  4to.  Mr.  Warton  ob- 
serves of  this  poem,  that  "  it  is  a  moral  vision  written  in 
1501,  planned  on  the  design  of  the  Tablet  of  Cebes,  and 
imitated  in  the  elegant  Latin  dialogue  *  De  Tranquillitate 
Anitni'  of  his  countryman  Florence  Wilson,  or  Florentius 
Volusenus. — The  object  of  this  allegory  is  to  show  the  in- 
stability and  insufficiency  of  worldly  pomp  ;  and  to  prove, 
that  a  constant  and  undeviating  habit  of  virtue  is  the  only 
way  to  true  honour  and  happiness.  The  allegory  is  illus- 
trated by  a  variety  of  examples  of  illustrious  personages  ; 
not  only  of  those  who  by  a  regular  perseverance  in  honour- 
able deeds  gained  admittance  into  this  splendid  habitation, 
but  of  those  who  were  excluded  from  it,  by  debasing  the 
dignity  of  their  eminent  stations  with  a  vicious  and  un- 
manly behaviour.  It  is  addressed,  as  an  apologue  for  the 
conduct  of  a  king,  to  James  the  Fourth,  is  adorned  with 
many  pleasing  incidents  and  adventures,  and  abounds 
with  genius  and  learning."  Both  the  editions  which  have 
been  printed  of  this  poem  are  extremely  scarce. 

In  his  youth,  he  likewise  translated  Ovid  "  De  remedio 
Amoris,"  which,  says  one  of  his  biographers,  "  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  of  all  his  works,  and  done  not  without 
some  view  to  himself;  for,  as  Hume  informs  us,  he  had 
felt  the  effects  of  love.  But  this  was  in  his  younger  years, 
and  long  before  he  was  in  holy  orders.  And  he  was  very 
soon  freed  from  the  tyranny  of  this  unreasonable  passion, 


232  DOUGLAS. 

as  appears  from  the  very  translation,  which  he  finished  so 
early,  and  seems  to  have  proposed  as  an  antidote  against 
its  charms  both  to  himself  and  others.  He  hath  given  also 
many  excellent  precepts  and  advices  against  the  danger  of 
immoderate  love  and  unlawful  pleasures,  in  his  admirable 
prologue  to  Virgil's  fourth  hook." 

He  also  wrote  an  allegorical  poem,  called  "  King  Hart," 
which  was  first  published  from  an  original  manuscript  by 
]\lr.  Pinkerton,  in  1786,  in  his  "  Ancient  Scotish  Poems." 
A  new  edition  of  bishop  Douglas's  translation  of  Virgil  was 
printed  at  Edinburgh,  in  1710,  in  small  folio,  to  which  a 
large  and  valuable  glossary  was  added  by  tbe  celebrated 
printer  Ruddiman,  and  a  life  of  the  author  by  the  rev. 
John  Sage,  who  acknowledges  the  assistance  he  had  from 
.bishop  Nicolson,  sir  Robert  Sibbald,  Dr.  Pitcairne,  and 
Mr.  Urry.1 

DOUGLAS  (JAMES),  an  eminent  physician,  and  reader 
of  anatomy  to  the  company  of  surgeons,  was  born  in  Scot- 
land, in  1675.  After  completing  his  education  he  came 
to  London,  and  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  study  of 
anatomy  and  surgery,  which  he  both  taught  and  practised 
several  years  with  success.  Haller,  who  visited  him  when 
he  was  in  England,  speaks  of  him  in  high  terms  of  appro- 
bation. He  saw,  he  says,  several  of  his  anatomical  pre- 
parations made  with  great  art  and  ingenuity,  to  shew  the 
motion  of  the  joints,  and  the  internal  structure  of  the 
bones.  He  was  then  meditating  an  extensive  anatomical 
work,  which,  however,  he  did  not  live  to  finish,  and  has 
rot  been  since  published.  When  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Wil- 
liam Hunter,  came  to  London,  he  consulted  with  Dr. 
Douglas  on  the  method  of  improving  himself  in  anatomy, 
and  Dr.  Douglas  took  him  into  his  house,  to  assist  him  in 
his  dissections ;  at  the  same  time  he  gave  him  an  oppor- 
tunity of  attending  St.  George's  hospital.  The  year  fol- 
lowing, 1742,  Dr.  Douglas  died.  Besides  several  com- 
munications to  the  royal  society,  which  are  published  in 
their  Transactions,  containing  the  anatomy  of  the  uterus, 
with  the  neighbouring  vessels,  and  some  cases  in  surgery, 
the  doctor  published  in  1707,  "  Myographix  comparator 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Life  by  Mr.  Sage, — and  by  Dr.  Scot,  in  Morison's  Scotish 
Poets,  No.  III.  17SS  — Warton's  Hist,  of  Poetry,  vol.  II.  '280,  Sic.— Macken- 
zie's Scots  Writers  vol.  II. — Irvine's  Lives  of  the  Scottish  Poets. — Fawkes's 
Life  of  Douiilas,  and  Description  of  May,  1752,  4to. — Chalmers's  Life  of  RucU 
diinan,  p.  44. — Ceiisuta  Liteiariaj  vol.  UL— Bibliographer,  vol.  U. 


DOUGLAS.  283 

specimen,"  or  a  comparative  description  of  all  the  muscles 
in  a  man,  and  in  a  quadruped  (a  dog),  12mo;  containing 
the  most  correct  description  of  the  muscles  that  had  been 
seen  to  that  time.  "  Bibliographic  anatomicoe  specimen, 
seu  catalogus  pene  omnium  auctorum  qui  ab  Hippocrate 
ad  Harveium  rem  anatomicam  illustrarunt,"  London,  1715, 
8vo  ;  reprinted  with  improvements  at  Leyderi,  in  1731. 
"  A  description  of  the  peritoneum,  and  of  that  part  of  the 
membrana  cellularis  which  lies  on  its  outside,"  &c.  Lon- 
don, 1730,  4to,  a  very  accurate  and  valuable  work.  "A 
history  of  the  lateral  operation  for  the  stone,"  1726,  8vo  ; 
republished  with  an  appendix,  in  1733,  comprising  a  com- 
parison of  the  methods  used  by  different  lithotomists,  par- 
ticularly of  that  practised  by  Cheselden. 

Dr.  Douglas  collected,  at  a  great  ex  pence,  all  the  edi- 
tions of  Horace  which  had  been  published  from  1476  to 
1739.  Dr.  Harwood,  who  mentions  this  circumstance  in 
his  View  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  which,  however, 
had  been  previously  mentioned  by  Pope,  observes  that 
this  one  author  thus  multiplied,  must  have  constituted  a 
very  considerable  library.  A  very  accurate  catalogue  of 
those  different  editions  is  prefixed  to  the  first  volume  of 
Watson's  Horace. 

His  brother,  JOHN  DOUGLAS,  \vho  was  surgeon  to  the 
Westminster  infirmary,  wrote  several  controversial  pieces; 
in  one  of  them,  entitled  "  Remarks  on  a  late  pompous 
\vork,"  London,  1735,  8vo,  he  censures,  with  no  small 
degree  of  severity,  as  well  as  injustice,  Cheselden's  Ana- 
tomy of  the  Bones ;  in  another,  Some  account  of  the  state 
of  Midwifery  in  London,  published  in  1736,  he  criticises 
with  equal  asperity  the  works  of  Charnberlen  and  Chap- 
man, on  the  subject  of  midwifery  ;  and  in  a  third  he  de- 
cries the  new  invented  forceps  of  Dr.  Smellie.  He  also 
wrote  a  work  on  the  high  operation  for  the  stone,  which 
he  practised,  a  dissertation  on  the  venereal  disease,  pub- 
lished in  1737,  and  "  An  account  of  Mortifications,  and 
of  the  surprizing  effects  of  the  bark  in  putting  a  stop  to 
their  progress,"  London,  1729.  The  practice  recom- 
mended in  this  little  work  is  still  followed.1 

DOUGLAS  (JOHN),  the  late  learned  bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, was  born  in  Scotland,  in  1721,  the  son  of  Mr.  Archi- 
bald Douglas,  a  merchant  of  Fittenween,  in  Fifeshire. 

»  Rees's  Cyclopaedia,— Haller  Bibl.  AnaU 


284-  DOUGLAS. 

His  grandfather  (who  was  a  younger  brother  of  the  family 
of  Douglas  of  Tulliquilly,  one  of  the  oldest  branches  of 
the  house  of  Douglas  now  in  existence),  was  an  eminent 
clergyman  of  the  episcopal  church  of  Scotland,  and  the 
immediate  successor  of  bishop  Burnet  in  the  living  of 
Salten,  in  East  Lothian,  from  which  preferment  he  was 
ejected  at  the  revolution,  when  presbyterianism  was  es- 
tablished in  Scotland.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  was 
educated  for  some  years  at  the  school  of  Dunbar,  but  in 
1736  was  entered  a  commoner  of  St.  Mary  hall,  Oxford, 
where  he  remained  till  1738,  and  then  removed  to  Baliol- 
college,  on  being  elected  an  exhibitioner  on  bishop  War- 
ner's foundation.  In  1741  he  took  his  bachelor's  degree; 
and  in  1742,  in  order  to  acquire  a  facility  of  speaking 
French,  he  went  abroad,  and  remained  for  some  time  at 
Montreal,  in  Picardy,  and  afterwards  at  Ghent,  in  Flan- 
ders. On  his  return  to  college,  in  1743,  he  took  his  mas- 
ter's degree,  and  having  been  ordained  deacon,  in  1744, 
he  was  appointed  to  officiate  as  chaplain  to  the  third  regi- 
ment of  foot-guards,  which  he  joined  when  serving  with 
the  combined  army  in  Flanders.  During  the  time  he 
tilled  this  situation,  he  employed  himself  chiefly  in  the 
study  of  modern  languages.  He  was  not  an  inactive 
spectator  of  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  April  29,  1745,  on 
which  occasion  he  was  employed  in  carrying  orders  from 
general  Campbell  to  the  English  who  guarded  the  village 
in  which  he  and  the  other  generals  were  stationed. 

When  a  detachment  of  the  army  was  ordered  home  to 
suppress  the  rebellion  in  Scotland,  he  returned  to  England 
in  Sept.  1745,  and  having  no  longer  any  connexion  with 
the  guards,  went  back  to  Baliol  college,  where  he  was 
elected  one  of  the  exhibitioners  on  the  more  lucrative 
foundation  of  Mr.  Snell.  In  1747  he  was  ordained  priest, 
and  became  curate  of  Tilehurst,  near  Reading  ;  and  after- 
wards of  Dunstevv,  in  Oxfordshire,  where  he  was  residing, 
when,  at  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Charles  Stuart,  and 
lady  Allen,  a  particular  friend  of  his  mother,  he  was  se- 
lected by  lord  Bath  as  a  tutor  to  accompany  his  son,  lord 
Pulteney,  on  his  travels.  Of  the  tour  which  he  then  made, 
there  exists  a  manuscript  in  Mr.  Douglas's  hand-writing. 
It  relates  principally,  if  not  exclusively,  to  the  govern- 
ments and  political  relations  of  the  several  countries  through 
which  he  passed.  In  October  1749,  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, and  took  possession  of  the  free  chapel  of  Eaton  Con- 


DOUGLAS.  285 

stantine,  and  the  donative  of  Uppington,  in  Shropshire, 
on  the  presentation  of  lord  Bath.  Here  he  commenced 
his  literary  career,  by  his  able  defence  of  Milton.  Early  in 
1747,  William  Lander,  a  Scotch  schoolmaster,  made  a  most 
flagitious  attempt  to  subvert  the  reputation  of  Milton,  by 
shewing  that  he  was  a  mere  copier  or  translator  of  the 
works  of  others,  and  that  he  was  indebted  to  some  mo- 
dern Latin  poets  for  the  plan,  arrangement,  &c.  of  his 
Paradise  Lost.  Many  persons  of  considerable  literary 
talents  gave  credit  to  the  tale  of  Lander,  among  whom  was 
the  celebrated  Dr.  Johnson.  Mr.  Douglas,  however,  exa- 
mined the  merits  of  the  case,  considered  most  accurately  the 
evidence  adduced  by  Lander,  and  soon  found  that  the  whole 
was  a  most  gross  fabrication.  He  published  in  1750  a  de- 
fence of  Milton  against  Lander,  entitled,  "  Milton  vindi- 
cated from  the  Charge  of  Plagiarism,"  &c.  which  appeared 
in  the  form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  earl  of  Bath. 
Having  justified  the  poet,  he  proceeded  to  charge  the  ac- 
cuser with  the  most  gross  and  manifest  forgery,  which  he 
substantiated  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  public.  The 
detection  was  indeed  so  clear  and  manifest,  that  the  cri- 
minal acknowledged  his  guilt,  in  a  letter  dictated  by  Dr. 
Johnson,  who  abhorred  the  imposition  he  had  practised. 

In  the  same  year  (1750)  he  was  presented  by  lord  Bath 
to  the  vicarage  of  High  Ercal,  in  Shropshire,  and  vacated 
Eaton  Constantine.  He  only  occasionally  resided  on  his 
livings,  and  at  the  desire  of  lord  Bath,  took  a  house  in  a 
street  contiguous  to  Bath-house,  London,  where  he  passed 
the  winter  months.  In  the  summer  he  generally  accom- 
panied lord  Bath  in  his  excursions  to  Tunbridge,  Chelten- 
ham, Shrewsbury,  and  Bath,  and  in  his  visits  to  the  duke 
of  Cleveland,  lord  Lyttelton,  &c.  In  Sept.  1752,  he 
married  miss  Dorothy  Pershouse,  sister  of  Richard  Pers- 
house,  of  Reynolds-hall,  near  Walsall,  in  Staffordshire ; 
and  within  three  months  became  a  widower.  In  the  spring 
of  1754,  he  published  "The  Criterion,  or  Miracles  ex- 
amined, &c."  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  an  anonymous  cor- 
respondent, since  known  to  have  been  Dr.  Adam  Smith, 
with  whom  he  probably  became  acquainted  at  Baliol-col- 
lege,  where  Smith  studied  for  some  time.  This  was  de- 
signed as  a  refutation  of  the  specious  objections  of  Hume 
and  others  to  the  reality  of  the  miracles  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  Hume  had  maintained  that  there  was  as 
good  evidence  for  the  miracles  said  to  have  taken  place 


286  DOUGLAS. 

among  the  ancient  heathens,  and  in  later  times,  in  the 
church  ot  Rome,  as  there  was  for  those  recorded  by  the 
evangelists,  and  said  to  have  been  performed  by  the  power 
of  Christ.  Mr.  Douglas,  who  had  shewn  himself  an  acute 
judge  of  the  value  of  evidence,  pointed  out  the  distinction 
between  the  pretended  and  true  miracles,  to  the  honour 
of  the  Christian  religion.  Dr.  Leland,  in  his  "  View  of 
Deisiical  Writers,"  has  made  very  honourable  mention  of 
this  work. 

In  1755,  he  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  An  Apology 
for  the  Clergy,"  against  the  Hutchinsonians  ;  and  shortly 
after,  another  pamphlet,  entitled  "  The  Destruction  of 
the  French  foretold  by  Ezekiel,"  against  the  same,  being 
an  ironical  defence  of  them  aq;ainst  the  attack  made  on 

O 

them  in  the  former  pamphlet,  which,  however,  was  not 
greatly  wanted,  as  the  Hutchinsonians  had  at  that  time 
the  more  serious  aid  of  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  George  Home, 
bishop  of  Norwich,  who  could  himself,  had  he  thought  it 
necessary,  wield  the  weapon  of  irony  with  good  effect. 
In  1756,  Mr.  Douglas  published  his  first  pamphlet  against 
Archibald  Bower,  the  purpose  of  which,  as  well  as  of  what 
followed  against  the  same  doubtful  character  (see  BOWER), 
was  to  shew  that  his  History  of  the  popes  could  not  be  de- 
pended upon,  and  that  the  author  had  shewn  himself  ca- 
pable of  much  misrepresentation  and  falsehood,  which  he 
had  indulged  to  secure  the  patronage  of  the  protestants  in 
this  country.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Douglas 
published  "A  serious  Defence  of  the  Administration,"  being 
an  ironical  justification  of  their  introducing  foreign  troops  to 
defend  this  country.  In  1757  he  published  "  Bower  and 
Tillemont  compared  ;"  shortly  afterwards,  "  A  full  Con- 
futation of  Bower's  Three  Defences  ;"  and  in  the  spring 
of  1758,  "  The  complete  and  final  Detection  of  Bower." 

In  the  Easter  term  of  this  year  he  took  his  doctor's  de- 
gree, and  was  presented  by,  lord  Bath  to  the  perpetual 
curacy  of  Kenley,  in  Shropshire.  In  1759,  he  published 
"  The  Conduct  of  a  late  noble  commander  candidly  con- 
sidered," as  good  a  defence  as  the  case  would  admit,  of 
lord  George  Sackville.  It  was  suggested  solely  by  the 
attack  so  unfairly  made  on  him  by  Ruff  head,  before  it 
could  possibly  be  known  whether  he  deserved  censure. 
No  person  was  privy  to  Dr.  Douglas's  being  the  author  of 
this  Defence,  except  his  bookseller,  Andrew  Millar,  to 
whom  he  made  a  present  of  the  copy.  In  the  same  mouth 


DOUGLAS.  287 

he  wrote  and  published,  "  A  Letter  to  two  great  men  on 
the  approach  of  peace,"  a  pamphlet  which  excited  great 
attention,  and  was  generally  attributed  to  lord  Bath.  In 
1760  he  wrote  the  preface  to  the  translation  of  Hooke's 
"  Negociations  in  Scotland."  He  was  this  year  appointed 
one  of  his  majesty's  chaplains.  In  1761  he  published  his 
"  Seasonable  Hints  from  an  honest  man,"  as  an  exposition 
of  lord  Bath's  sentiments.  In  November  1762,  he  was, 
through  the  interest  of  lord  Bath,  made  canon  of  Windsor. 
In  December  of  that  year,  on  the  day  on  which  the  pre- 
liminaries of  peace  were  to  be  taken  into  consideration  in 
parliament,  he  wrote  a  paper  called  "  The  Sentiments  of 
a  Frenchman,"  which  was  printed  on  a  sheet,  pasted  on 
the  walls  in  every  part  of  London,  and  distributed  among 
the  members  of  parliament,  as  they  entered  the  house. 

In  1763  he  superintended  the  publication  of  "  Henry 
Earl  of  Clarendon's  Diary  and  Letters,"  and  wrote  the 
preface  which  is  prefixed  to  these  papers.  In  June  of  this 
year,  he  accompanied  lord  Bath  to  Spa,  where  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  hereditary  prince  of  Brunswick  (the 
late  duke),  from  whom  he  received  marked  and  particular 
attention,  and  with  whom  he  was  afterwards  in  correspond- 
ence. It  is  known  that  within  a  few  years  there  existed 
a  series  of  letters  written  by  him  during  his  stay  at  Spa, 
and  also  a  book  containing  copies  of  all  the  letters  which 
he  had  written  to,  and  received  from,  the  prince  of  Bruns- 
wick, on  the  state  of  parties,  and  the  characters  of  their 
leaders  in  this  country,  and  on  the  policy  and  effect  of  its 
continental  connexions  ;  but  as  these  have  not  been  found 
among  his  papers,  there  is  reason  to  apprehend,  that  they 
may  have  been  destroyed,  in  consideration  of  some  of  the 
persons  being  still  alive,  whose  characters,  conduct,  and 
principles,  were  the  topics  of  that  correspondence. 

In  1764,  his  steady  patron,  lord  Bath,  died,  and  be- 
queathed to  him  his  library  ;  but  general  Pulteney  wishing 
that  it  should  not  be  removed  from  Bath-house,  he  relin- 
quished his  claim,  and  accepted  1000/.  in  lieu  of  it.  Ge- 
neral Pulteney,  at  his  death,  left  it  to  Dr.  Douglas  again, 
and  he  again  gave  it  up  to  the  late  sir  William  Pulteney, 
for  the  same  sum.  It  has  been  erroneously  stated  that  the 
valuable  library,  of  which  Dr.  Douglas  was  possessed,  had 
been  derived  from  this  source,  whereas  it  was  entirely 
collected  by  himself;  and  the  Bath  library,  after  the 
death  of  sir  William  Pulteney,  was  lately  sold  by  auction. 


288  DOUGLAS. 

In  1764  he  exchanged  his  livings  in  Shropshire  for  that 
of  St.  Austin  and  St.  Faith,  in  Watling-street,  London. 
In  April  1765  he  married  miss  Elizabeth  Rooke,  daughter 
of  Henry  Brudenell  Rooke,  esq.  During  this  and  the 
preceding  year*,  as  well  as  in  1768,  he  wrote  several  po- 
litical papers,  which  were  printed  in  the  Public  Advertiser; 
and  all  ihe  letters  which  appeared  in  that  paper,  in  1770 
and  1771,  under  the  signatures  of  Tacitus  and  Manlius, 
were  written  by  him.  In  1773,  he  assisted  sir  John  Dal- 
rymple  in  the  arrangement  of  his  MSS.  In  1776  he  was 
removed  from  the  chapter  of  Windsor  to  that  of  St.  Paul's. 
During  this  and  the  subsequent  year  he  was  employed  in 
preparing  captain  Cook's  Journal  for  publication,  which 
he  undertook  at  the  urgent  request  of  lord  Sandwich,  then 
first  lord  of  the  admiralty.  In  1777,  he  assisted  lord  Hard- 
wicke,  in  arranging  and  publishing  his  "  Miscellaneous 
Papers,"  which  came  out  in  the  following  year.  In  1778 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  royal  and  antiquary  so- 
cieties. In  1781  he  was  again  applied  to  by  lord  Sand- 
wich, to  reduce  into  a  shape  fit  for  publication,  the  Jour- 
nal of  capt.  Cook's  third  and  last  voyage  ;  to  which  he 
supplied  the  very  able  introduction,  and  the  .notes.  In 
1781  he  was  chosen  president  of  Sion-college  for  the  year, 
and  preached  the  Latin  sermon  before  that  body. 

In  1786  he  was  elected  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  framed  their  address  on  the 
king's  recovery,  17S9,  both  to  his  majesty  and  the  queen. 
In  March  1787  he  was  elected  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
British  Museum,  and  in  September  of  the  same  year,  was 
appointed  bishop  of  Carlisle.  In  1788  he  succeeded  to 
the  deanery  of  Windsor,  for  which  he  vacated  his  residen- 
tiaryship  of  St.  Paul's.  In  1789  he  preached  before  the 
house  of  lords,  and  of  course  published,  the  sermon  on  the 
anniversary  of  king  Charles's  martyrdom.  In  June  1791, 
he  was  translated  to  the  see  of  Salisbury.  In  1793  he 
preached,  which  is  also  published,  the  anniversary  sermon 
before  the  society  for  propagating  the  Gospel.  Having 
been  often  and  very  urgently  requested,  by  many  of  his 

*  In  1T67  he  appears  to  have  been  begging  that  he  would  stop  the  pro- 
suspected  of  writing  a  pamphlet  en-  gress  of  a  report  likely  to  be  so  inju- 
titled  "  Observations  on  the  Spanish  rious  to  him.  This,  and  Mr.  Wilkes's 
papers,"  and  as  Mr.  Wilkes  had  in-  answer,  appeared  in  the  papers  of  the 
formed  him  of  this  suspicion,  Dr.  Doug-  day. 
las  wrote  a  letter  to  that  gentleman, 


DOUGLAS.  289 

literary  friends,  to  publish  a  new  edition  of  the  "  Cri- 
terion," which  had  been  many  years  out  of  print,  he  un- 
dertook to  revise  that  excellent  work.  He  had  a  long  time 
before  collected  materials  for  a  new  and  enlarged  edition ; 
but  unfortunately  they  had  been  either  mislaid  or  lost;  or, 
more  probably,  destroyed,  by  mistake,  with  some  other 
manuscripts.  This  circumstance,  and  his  very  advanced 
ago,  sufficiently  accounts  for  his  not  having  attempted  to 
alter  materially  the  original  work.  In  this  statement,  all 
the  avowed  publications  of  the  bishop  are  enumerated,  but 
he  was  concerned  in  many  others,  in  which  he  was  never 
supposed  to  have  had  any  part,  and  in  some  of  no  trifling 
celebrity,  whose  nominal  and  reputed  authors  he  per- 
mitted to  retain  and  enjoy  exclusively  all  that  credit  of 
which  he  could  have  justly  laid  claim  to  no  inconsiderable 
share.  During  a  great  part  of  his  life,  he  was  in  corre- 
spondence with  some  of  the  most  eminent  literary  and  po- 
litical characters  of  the  age.  Few  could  have  read  more, 
if  indeed  any  one  so  much  as,  with  such  habits  of  incessant 
application  as  those  in  which  he  persevered,  almost  to  the 
last  hour  of  his  long  protracted  life,  he  must  necessarily 
have  read.  In  the  strictest  sense  of  the  expression,  he 
never  let  one  minute  pass  unimproved ;  for  he  never 
deemed  any  space  of  time  too  short  to  be  employed  in 
reading ;  nor  was  he  ever  seen  by  any  of  his  family,  when 
not  in  company  with  strangers,  without  having  a  book  or  a 
pen  in  his  hand.  He  retained  his  faculties  to  the  last,  and 
without  any  specific  complaint,  died  on  Monday,  May  18, 
1 807,  without  a  struggle,  «.in  the  arms  of  his  son,  to  whom, 
the  public  are  indebted  for  the  principal  part  of  the  pre- 
ceding memoir.  Bishop  Douglas  was  interred  on  Monday 
the  25th  in  a  vault  in  St.  George's  chapel,  Windsor. 

This  learned  prelate  enjoyed  a  very  high  share  of  repu- 
tation during  a  very  long  life.  He  was,  if  not  one  of  the 
most  profound,  one  of  the  most  general  scholars  in  the 
kingdom,  and  the  range  of  his  information  was  most  ex- 
tensive. Nor  was  he  more  an  enlightened  scholar,  than  a 
warm  friend  to  men  of  learning  and  genius  ;  in  private  life, 
he  was  amiable,  communicative,  and  interesting  in  his 
conversation  and  correspondence.  As  a  divine,  if  he  took 
nio  distinguished  part  in  the  controversies  of  the  times,  he 
evinced  by  his  "  Criterion,"  his  detection  of  Lauder,  and 
his  controversy  with  Bovver,  what  a  formidable  antagonist 
he  could  have  proved,  and  what  an  unanswerable  assertor 

VOL.  XII.  U 


190 

of  truth.  His  character  likewise  stood  high  for  fidelity  and 
a  conscientious  discharge  of  the  public  duties  of  his  station., 
and  when  not  employed  in  the  pulpit,  for  always  counte- 
nancing public  worship  by  his  presence.  His  punctuality 
in  this  last  respect  is  still  remembered  by  the  congregations 
or  i^t.  Faith's  and  St.  Paul's.  In  a  word,  as  his  talents  re- 
commended him  in  early  life  to  patronage,  so  he  soon  de- 
monstrated that  he  wanted  only  to  be  better  known  to  be 
thought  deserving  of  the  highest  preferments.  l 

DOUJAT  (JOHN),  a  learned  French  advocate  and  clas- 
sical scholar,  was  born  in  1609  at  Toulouse,  of  a  family 
distinguished  by  their  talents.  After  having  studied  clas- 
sics and  philosophy  with  great  success,  he  went  through  a 
course  of  law,  and  was  admitted  an  advocate  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Toulouse  in  1637.  Removing  afterwards  with  a 
view  to  settle  in  Paris,  he  was  admitted  to  the  same  rank 
in  the  parliament  of  that  city  in  1639.  Here  his  reputation 
for  knowledge  and  eloquence  became  soon  acknowledged, 
and  in  1650,  on  the  death  of  Balthazar  Baro,  he  was  chosen 
into  the  French  academy  in  his  place.  The  following 
year,  according  to  the  "  Menagiana,"  he  went  to  Bourges 
as  candidate  for  a  law  professorship,  but  we  are  not  told 
whether  he  succeeded  ;  in  the  same  year,  however,  he 
was  appointed  professor  of  the  canon  law  in  the  royal  col- 
lege ;  and  four  years  after,  in  1655,  had  the  appointment 
of  regent  doctor  of  the  faculty  of  the  law,  and  filled  both 
offices  with  the  highest  reputation,  nor  did  their  laborious 
duties  prevent  him  from  finding  sufficient  leisure  to  write 
many  of  his  published  works.  He  was  also  appointed  pre- 
ceptor to  the  dauphin  in  history,  and  became  one  of  the 
learned  editors  of  the  Dauphin  classics.  He  died  Oct.  27, 
1688,  in  his  79th  year,  being  then  dean  of  the  French 
academy,  of  the  royal  college,  and  of  the  faculty  of  law. 
He  had  an  extensive  knowledge  of  languages,  wrote  flu- 
ently in  Latin  and  French,  and  spoke  Italian,  Spanish, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  even  the  Turkish,  and  understood 
English,  German,  and  Sclavonic.  With  all  these  accom- 
plishments, he  was  a  man  of  singular  modesty,  probity, 
and  disinterestedness.  His  talents  having  procured  him 
what  he  thought  a  competent  maintenance,  he  had  no  am- 
bition for  riches,  and  employed  what  was  not  necessary  for 
his  own  moderate  wants,  upon  the  poor. 

»  Gent.Mag.  vol.  LXXVIL 


D  O  U  J  A  T.  291 

His  works  are  numerous,  and  justify  the  fame  he  ac- 
quired.. 1.  "  Dictionnaire  de  la'  langue  Toulousaine," 
lt)38,  8vo.  This,  which  is  without  Doujat's  name,  was 
printed  at  the  end  of  Goudelin's  works,  which  are  in  that 
language.  2.  "  Grammaire  Espagnole  abregee,"  Paris, 
1644,  12mo,  also  without  his  name.  3.  "  Moyen  aise 
d'apprendre  les  langues  —  mis  en  pratique  sur  la  langue 
Espagnole,"  ibid.  1646,  12rao.  4.  "  Joannis  Dartis  opera 
Canonica,  edente  J.  Doujatio,"  ibid.  1656,  fol.  5.  "  De 
Pace  a  Ludovico  XIV.  constituta,  oratio  panegyrica,"  ibid. 
1660,  12mo.  6.  "  Historica  juris  Pontificii  Synopsis,'* 
added  afterwards  to  his  edition  of  Lancelot's  Institutions, 
ibid.  1670,  12mo.  7.  "  Synopsis  Conciliorum  et  Chrono* 
logia  Patrum,  Pontificum,  Imperatorum,"  &c.  ibid.  1671, 
12mo.  8.  A  Latin  translation  of  the  "  Panegyrique  du- 
Roy,"  by  M.  Pellison,  ibid.  1671,  4to.  9.  "  La  Clef  du 
grand  Pouille  de  France,"  ibid.  1671,  2  volumes,  12mo. 
10.  "  Specimen  Juris  Canonici  apud  Gallos  usu  recepti," 
&c.  ibid.  1671,  2  vols.  12mo,  often  reprinted.  11.  A 
French  translation  of  Velleius  Paterculus,  with  notes,  ibid. 
1672  and  1708,  12mo.  12.  "  Histoire  du  droit  Canoni- 
que,"  ibid.  1675,  12mo.  13.  "  Historia  Juris  Civilis  Ro- 
manorum,"  ibid.  1678,  12mo.  14.  "  Francisci  Florentii 
opera  Canonica  et  Juridica,"  with  additions,  ibid.  1679, 
2  vols.  4to.  15.  The  Delphin  "  Livy,"  ibid.  1679,  6  vols. 
4to.  16.  "  Theophili  Antecessoris  Institutionum  lib.  qua- 
tuor,"  with  notes,  &c.  ibid.  1681,  2  vols.  12mo.  17.  "  In- 
stitutiones  Juris  Canonici  a  J.  P.  Lancelotto  Perusino  con- 
scriptae,"  with  notes,  ibid.  1685,  2  vols.  12mo.  Inconse- 
quence of  a  new  statute  of  the  university  of  Paris,  every 
regent  doctor  was  obliged  to  lecture  for  three  years  on  some 
branch  of  jurisprudence,  and  Doujat  in  obedience  to  this 
statute  lectured  on  the  subject  of  this  work.  18.  "  Pra?- 
notionum  canonicarum  libri  quinque,"  ibid.  Paris,  1687, 
4to.  19.  "  Eloges  des  personnes  illustres  de  1' Ancient 
Testament^  pour  donner  quelque  teinture  de  1'Histoire  Sa- 
cree,  a  I'usage  de  monseigneur  le  due  de  Bourgogne,'" 
ibid.  1688,  8vo,  in  verse,  but  not  of  the  best  sort.  20.  "Re- 
ponse  a  M.  Furetiere,"  Hague,  1688,  4to.  21.  "  Lettre 
touchant  un  passage  conteste  de  Tite  Live,"  printed  in  the 
Journal  des  Savans,  Dec.  1685.  22.  "  Martini  Bracarensis 
episcopi  Collectio  Canon  um  Oriental  mm."  This  Doujat 
revised  and  corrected,  for  insertion  in  the  "  Bibl.  Juris 
Canon,  veteris,"  by  Justell,  Paris,  1661,  2  vols.  fol.  Dou« 

u  2 


J92  T>  O  U  J  A  T. 

jat  wrote  also  several  shorter  pieces  in  the  literary  journals, 
some  prefaces,  &c.  and  Irad  made  some  progress  in  a 
history  of  the  regency  of  queen  Anne  of  Austria,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  king's  having  appointed  him  historiogra- 
pher; but  before  a  sheet  had  been  printed,  it  was  thought 
proper  to  suppress  it.  In  the  British  Museum  catalogue 
we  find  an  article  attributed  to  him  under  the  title  "  Sup- 
plemeuta  Lacunarum  Livianavum,"  4to,  without  date,  and 
probably  part  of  his  edition  of  Livy.  * 

DO  US  A  (JANUS),  a  very  learned  man,  was  born  of  a 
rioble  family  at  Nortwick  in  Holland,  1545.  He  lost  his 
parents  when  very  young,  and  was  sent  to  several  schools  ; 
and  to  one  at  Paris  among  the  rest,  where  he  made  a  great 
progress  in  Greek  and  Latin.  When  he  had  finished  his 
education,  he  returned  to  his  own  country,  and  married  ; 
and  though  he  was  scarcely  grown  up,  he  applied  himself 
to  affairs  of  state,  and  was  soon  made  a  curator  of  the 
banks  and  ditches,  which  post  he  held  above  twenty  years, 
and  then  resigned  it.  But  Dousa  was  not  only  a  scholar 
and  a  statesman,  but  likewise  a  soldier;  and  he  behaved 
himself  so  well  in  that  capacity  at  the  siege  of  Leyden  in 
1574,  that  the  prince  of  Orange  thought  he  could  commit 
the  government  of  the  town  to  none  so  properly  as  to  him. 
In  1575  the  university  was  founded  there,  and  Dousa  made 
first  curator  of  it ;  for  which  place  he  was  well  fitted,  as 
well  on  account  of  his  learning  as  by  his  other  deserts. 
His  learning  was  indeed  prodigious ;  and  he  had  such  a 
menfory,  that  he  could  at  once  give  an  answer  to  any 
thing  that  was  asked  him,  relating  to  ancient  or  modern 
history,  or,  in  short,  to  any  branch  of  literature.  He  was, 
says  Melchior  Adam,  and,  after  him,  Thuanus,  a  kind  of 
living  library  ;  the  Varro  of  Holland,  and  the  oracle  of  the 
university  of  Leyden.  His  genius  lay  principally  towards 
poetry,  and  his  various  productions  in  verse  were  nu- 
merous :  he  even  composed  the  annals  of  his  own  country, 
which  he  had  collected  from  the  public  archives,  in  verse, 
which  was  published  at  Leyden  1601,  4to,  and  reprinted 
in  1617  with  a  commentary  by  Grotius.  He  wrote  also 
critical  notes  upon  Horace,  Sallust,  Plautus,  Petronius, 
Catullus,  Tibullus,  &c.  His  moral  qualities  are  said  to 
have  been  no  less  meritorious  than  his  intellectual  and 
literary  ;  for  he  was  modest,  humane,  benevolentj  and  affa- 

*  Niceren,  ?oi.  XVI. — MorerL 


D  O  U  S  A.  291 

ble.  He  was  admitted  into  the  supreme  assembly  of  the 
nation,  where  he  kept  his  seat,  and  discharged  his  office 
worthily,  for  the  last  thirteen  years  of  his  life.  He  died 
Oct.  12,  1604,  and  his  funeral  oration  was  made  by  Daniel 
Heinsius.  Of  his  works,  we  have  seen,  1.  "  Couiin.  in 
Catullum,  Tibullum,  et  Horatium,"  Antwerp,  1580,  12mo. 
2.  "  Libri  tres  Prascidaneorum  in  Petronium  Arbitrmn," 
Leyden,  1583,  8vo.  3.  "  Epodon  ex  puris  lambis,"  Ant. 
1514,  8vo.  4.  "  Plautinae  Explicationes,"  Leyden,  1587, 
16mo.  5.  "  Poemata,"  ibid.  1607,  12mo.  6.  "  Odarum 
Britannicarum  liber,  ad  Elizabetham  reginam,  et  Jani 
Dousae  filii  Britannicorum  carminum  silva,"  Leyden,  1586, 
4to;  and  7.  lt  Elegiarum  libri  duo,  et  Epigrammatum  liber 
unus ;  cum  Justi  Lipsii  aliorumque  ad  eundem  carminibus," 
ibid.  1586,  4to.  In  some  catalogues,  however,  the  works 
of  the  father  and  son  seem  be  confounded. 

He  left  four  sons  behind  him  ;  the  eldest  of  whom,  JANUS 
DOUSA,  would,  if  he  had  lived,  have  been  a  more  extraor- 
dinary man  than  his  father.  Joseph  Scaliger  calls  him  the 
ornament  of  the  world;  and  says,  that  in  the  flower  of  his 
age  he  had  reached  the  same  maturity  of  wisdom  and  eru- 
dition, as  others  might  expect  to  attain  after  a  life  spent 
in  study.  Grotius  also  assures  us,  that  his  poems  ex- 
ceeded those  of  his  father  ;  whom  he  assisted  in  composing 
the  Annals  of  Holland.  He  was  born  in  1572;  and,  be- 
fore he  was  well  out  of  infancy,  became,  through  the 
great  care  of  his  father,  not  only  a  good  linguist  and  poet, 
but  also  a  good  philosopher  and  mathematician.  To  all 
this  he  afterwards  added  an  exquisite  knowledge  of  the 
civil  law  and  of  history.  Besides  a  great  many  poems, 
, which  he  composed  in  a  very  tender  age,  we  have  his  notes 
and  observations  upon  several  Latin  poets.  Those  upon 
Plautus  were  the  product  of  his  sixteenth  year;  and  he 
was  not  above  nineteen  when  he  published  his  book  "  De 
Rebus  Ccelestibus,"  and  his  "  Echo,  sive  Lusus  imaginis 
jocose."  His  commentaries  upon  Catullus,  Tibullus,  and 
Propertius,  were  published  .the  same  year.  His  extraor- 
dinary fame  and  merit  caused  him  to  be  made  preceptor  to 
the  prince  of  Orange,  and  afterwards  first  librarian  of  the 
university  of  Leyden.  He  died  at  the  Hague,  in  his  re- 
turn from  Germany  in  1597,  when  lie  had  not  quite  com- 
pleted his  26th  year. 

Dousa's  three  other  sons,  GEORGE,  FRANCIS,  and  THEO- 
DORE, were  all  of  them  men  of  learning,  though  not  so  - 


D  o  u  s  A. 

eminent  as  Janus.  George  was  a  good  linguist;  travelled 
to  Constantinople;  and  published  a  relation  of  his  journey, 
with  several  inscriptions  which  he  found  there  and  else- 
where. Also,  in  1607,  he  printed  George  Cedrenus's 
book,  entitled,  "  De  originibus  urbis  Constantinopolitanae," 
with  Meursius's  notes.  Francis  was  far  from  wanting  learn- 
ing :  for  in  1600  he  published  the  epistles  of  Julius  Caesar 
Scaliger;  his  annotations  upon  Aristotle's  history  of  Ani- 
mals ;  and  some  fragments  of  Lucilius,  with  notes  of  his 
own  upon  them.  Theodore,  lord  of  Barkenstyen,  pub- 
lished the  "  Chronicon"  of  George  Logotheta  with  notes, 
in  1614;  and  in  1638  wrote  a  treatise,  called  "Farrago 
echoica  variarum  linguarum,  variorumque  auctorum,"  &C.1 
DOUW  (GERHARD),  an  eminent  artist,  was  born  at 
Leyden  in  1613,  and  after  receiving  some  instructions 
from  Dolendo,  an  engraver,  and  Kouwhoorn,  a  glass- 
painter,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  became  a  disciple  of  Rem- 
brandt, with  whom  he  continued  three  years.  Rembrandt 
taught  him  the  principles  of  colouring,  and  the  chiaro- 
scuro, to  which  knowledge  Douw  added  a  delicacy  of  pen- 
cil, and  a  patience  in  working  up  his  colours  to  the  highest 
degree  of  neatness,  superior  to  any  other, master.  His 
pictures  are  usually  of  a  small  size,  with  figures  exquisitely 
touched,  transparent  and  delicate.  Every  object  is  a  mi- 
nute copy  of  nature,  and  appears  perfectly  natural  in 
colour,  freshness,  and  force.  In  painting  portraits  he 
used  a  concave  mirror,  and  sometimes  looked  at  his  ori- 
ginal through  a  frame  with  many  exact  squares  of  fine  silk; 
practices  now  disused,  except  by  some  miniature  painters 
who  still  use  the  mirror. 

Douw's  pictures  have  always  been  high-priced  in  his 
own  country,  and  in  every  part  of  Europe  ;  in  finishing 
them  he  was  curious  and  patient  beyond  example.  Of 
this  Sandrart  gives  a  singular  instance.  Having  once,  in 
company  with  Bamboccio,  visited  Gerhard  Douw,  they 
admired  a  picture  which  he  was  then  painting,  and  parti- 
cularly the  excessive  neatness  of  a  broom,  when  Douw 
told  them,  he  should  spend  three  days  more  in  working  on 
that  broom,  before  he  should  account  it  entirely  complete. 
In  a  family  picture  of  Mrs.  Spiering,  the  same  author  says, 
that  the  lady  had  sat  five  days  for  the  finishing  of  one  of 

1  Niceron,  vol.  XVIII. — Freheri  Theatrum. — Foppeu  Bibl.  Belg. — Moreri.— 
JJlount's  Ceosura. — Baillet  Jugemens. — Saxii  Onomast. 


D  O  U  W.  29* 

Iyer  hands  that  leaned  on  an  arm-chair.  For  that  reason, 
not  many  would  sit  to  him  for  their  portraits  ;  and  he 
therefore  indulged  himself  mostly  in  works  of  fancy,  in 
which  he  could  introduce  objects  of  still  life,  and  employ 
as  much  time  on  them  as  suited  his  own  inclination. 
Houbraken  testifies,  that  his  great  patron  Mr.  Spiering 
allowed  him  a  thousand  guilders  a  year,  and  paid  beside 
whatever  he  demanded  for  his  pictures,  and  purchased  some 
of  them  for  their  weight  in  silver;  but  Sandrart,  with  more 
probability,  assures  us,  that  the  thousand  guilders  a  year 
were  paid  to  Gerhard,  on  no  other  consideration  than  that 
the  artist  should  give  his  benefactor  the  option  of  every 
picture  he  painted,  for  which  he  was  immediately  to  re- 
ceive the  utmost  of  his  demand. 

Douvv  appears,  incontestably,  tabe  the  most  wonderful 
in  his  finishing  of  all  the  Flemish  masters.  Every  thing 
that  came  from  his  pencil  is  precious,  and  his  colouring 
hath  exactly  the  true  and  the  lovely  tints  of  nature ;  nor 
do  his  colours  appear  tortured,  nor  is  their  vigour  lessened 
by  his  patient  pencil ;  for,  whatever  pains  he  may  have 
taken,  there  is  no  look  of  labour  or  stiffness ;  and  his  pic- 
tures are  remarkable,  not  only  for  retaining  their  original 
lustre,  but  for  having  the  same  beautiful  effect  at  a  proper 
distance,  as  they  have  when  brought  to  the  nearest  view. 
The  most  capital  picture  of  this  master  in  Holland  was,  not 
very  long  since,  in  the  possession  of  the  widow  Van  Hoek, 
at  Amsterdam  ;  it  was  of  a  size  larger  than  usual,  being 
three  feet  high,  by  two  feet  six  inches  broad,  within  the 
frame.  In  it  two  rooms  are  represented ;  in  the  first 
(where  there  appears  a  curious  piece  of  tapestry,  as  a  sepa- 
ration of  the  apartments)  there  is  a  pretty  figure  of  a 
woman  giving  suck  to  a  child ;  at  her  side  is  a  cradle,  and 
a  table  covered  with  tapestry,  on  which  is  placed  a  gilt 
lamp,  and  some  pieces  of  still  life.  In  the  second  apart- 
ment is  a  surgeon's  shop,  with  a  countryman  undergoing 
an  operation,  and  a  woman  standing  by  him  with  several 
utensils.  The  folding-doors  show  on  one  side  a  study,  and 
a  man  making  a  pen  by  candle-light,  and  on  the  other  side, 
a  school  with  boys  writing  and  sitting  at  different  tables. 
At  Turin  are  several  pictures  by  Gerhard  Douw,  wonder- 
fully beautiful ;  especially  one,  of  a  doctor  attending  a 
sick  woman,  and  surveying  an  urinal.  The  execution  of 
that  painting  is  astonishingly  fine  ;  and  although  the  sha- 
dows appear  a  little  too  dark,  the  whole  has  an  inexpres- 


296  D  O  U  W. 

sible  effect.  In  the  gallery  at  Florence,  there  is  a  night- 
piece  by  candle-light,  which  is  exquisitely  finished  ;  and 
in  the  same  apartment,  a  mountebank  attended  by  a  num- 
ber of  figures,  which,  says  Pilkington,  it  seems  impossible 
either  sufficiently  to  commend,  or  to  describe.  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  however,  has  contrived  to  describe  it  without 
much  commendation,  as  a  picture  that  is  very  highly 
finished,  but  has  nothing  interesting  in  it.  The  heads 
have  no  character,  nor  are  any  circumstances  of  humour 
introduced.  The  only  incident  is  a  very  dirty  one,  which 
every  observer  must  wish  had  been  omitted  ;  that  of  a 
woman  clouting  a  child.  The  rest  of  the  figures  are  stand- 
ing round,  without  invention  or  novelty  of  any  kind.  After 
other  objections  to  this  picture,  sir  Joshua  observes  that 
the  single  figure  of  the  woman  holding  a  hare,  in  Mr. 
Hope's  collection,  is  worth  more  than  this  large  picture, 
in  which  perhaps  there  is  ten  times  the  quantity  of  work. 
Gerhard  Douw  died  very  opulent  in  1674. ' 

DOVIZI,  or  DIVISIO  (BERNARD),  better  known  by 
the  name  of  BEKNAKD  of  BIBIENA,  an  eminent  cardinal, 
was  born  of  a  reputable  family  at  Bibiena  in  1470,  and 
was  sent  at  nine  years  of  age  to  pursue  his  studies  at  Flo- 
rence. His  family  connexions  introduced  him  into  the 
house  of  the  Medici,  and  such  was  the  assiduity  with  which 
he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunities  of  instruction  there 
afforded  him,  that  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  had  attained 
a  great  facility  of  Latin  composition,  and  was  soon  after- 
wards selected  by  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  as  one  of  his  pri- 
vate secretaries.  He  was  also  the  principal  director  of  the 
studies  of  John  de  Medici,  afterwards  Leo  X.  and  when 
the  honours  of  the  church  were  bestowed  on  his  pupil,  the 
principal  care  of  his  pecuniary  concerns  was  intrusted  to 
Dovizi ;  in  the  execution  of  which  he  rendered  his  patron 
such  important  services,  and  conducted  himself  with  so 
much  vigilance  and  integrity,  that  some  have  not  hesitated 
to  ascribe  to  him,  in  a  considerable  degree,  the  future 
eminence  of  his  pupil,  who,  when  made  pope,  gave  his 
tutor  a  cardinal's  cap.  He  also  employed  himself  in  seve- 
ral negociations.  He  sent  him  as  legate  to  the  army  raised 
against  the  duke  of  Urbino ;  and  also  to  the  emperor 
Maximilian.  In  1518  he  was  sent  as  legate  to  France  to 
persuade  the  king,  to  join  in  the  crusade  against  the  Turks, 

*  Argenville,  vol.  III. — Descamps,  vol.  II. — Sir  J.  Reynolds's  Works. 


D  O  V  I  Z  I.  297 

in  which  he  would  have  succeeded,  had  not  the  pope  dis- 
couraged the  enterprize  by  his  unreasonable  distrust  and 
caballing  against  France.  Bibiena  remonstrated  against 
this  conduct  with  cjreat  freedom  in  his  letters  to  Rome. 

O  ' 

which  is  supposed  to  have  hastened  his  death  in  Nov.  1520. 
Some  have  asserted  that  he  was  poisoned  by  the  order  or 
contrivance  of  Leo  X.  which  is  positively  denied  by  the 
historian  of  that  pontiff,  as  utterly  destitute  of  proof. 

Bibiena,  although  an  ecclesiastic,  partook  of  the  licen- 
tious character  of  the  papal  court  and  times  to  which  he 
belonged,  but  was  a  friend  to  literature,  and  a  patron  of 
the  arts.  In  his  temper  and  manners  he  was  affable,  and 
even  facetious,  as  appears  by  the  representation  of  him 
in  Castiglione's  "  Courtier,"  in  which  he  is  introduced  as 
one  of  the  interlocutors.  Of  his  turn  for  literature,  he 
gave  a  sufficient  proof  in  his  celebrated  comedy  "  La  Ca- 
landria,"  which,  although  not,  as  some  have  asserted,  the 
earliest  comedy  which  modern  times  have  produced,  de- 
servedly obtained  great  reputation  for  its  author,  and 
merits,  even  at  this  day,  no  small  share  of  approbation. 
It  was  first  printed  at  Siena  in  1521,  afterwards  at  Rome, 
1524,  Venice,  1552  and  1562,  and  at  Florence  in  1558. * 

DOWN  HAM  (GEORGE),  bishop  of  Derry  in  Ireland, 
the  son  of  William  Downham,  bishop  of  Chester,  was  born 
there.  He  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  was  elected  a  fel- 
low of  Christ  college  in  1585,  and  was  afterwards  professor 
of  logic.  -Fuller  says  that  no  man  was  better  skilled  in 
Aristotle  and  Ramus,  and  terms  him  "the  top-twig  of  that 
branch."  He  was  esteemed  a  man  of  learning,  and  was 
chaplain  to  James  I.  by  whom  he  was  advanced  to  the  see 
of  Derry,  by  letters  dated  Sept.  6,  1616,  and  was  conse- 
crated Oct.  6,  of  the  same  year.  During  the  government 
of  the  lord  chancellor  Loftus,  and  the  earl  of  Cork,  he  ob- 
tained a  commission,  by  an  immediate  warrant  from  him- 
self to  arrest,  apprehend,  and  attach  the  bodies  of  all  peo- 
ple within  his  jurisdiction,  who  should  decline  the  same, 
or  should  refuse  to  appear  upon  lawful  citation,  or  appear- 
ing should  refuse  to  obey  the  sentence  given  against 
them,  and  authority  to  bind  them  in  recognizances,  with 
sureties  or  without,  to  appear  at  the  council-table  to  answer 
such  contempts.  The  like  commission  was  renewed  to 
him  by  the  lord  deputy  Wentworth,  Oct.  3,  1633.  Both 

'  Tiraboschi. — Roscoe's  Leo. — Moreri  in  Bernard. 


29S  D  O  W  N  H  A  M. 

were  obtained  upon  his  information,  that  his  diocese 
abounded  with  all  manner  of  delinquents,  who  refused  obe- 
dience to  all  spiritual  processes.  He  died  at  Londonderry 
April  17,  1634,  and  was  buried  there  in  the  cathedral.  He 
had  a  brother  named  John,  who  was  an  eminent  divine  and 
a  writer.  His  own  works  are  very  numerous,  and  evince 
his  theological  abilities  and  piety.  1.  "  A  treatise  con- 
cerning Antichrist,  in  two  books,"  Lond.  1603,  4to.  2. 
"  The  Christian's  Sanctuary,"  ibid.  1604,  4to.  3.  "  Lec- 
tures upon  the  Fifteenth  Psalm,"  ibid.  1604,  -4to.  4. 
"  Sermon  at  the  consecration  of  the  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  upon  Apocalypse  i.  20,"  ibid.  160S,  4to.  5.  "  De- 
fence of  the  same  Sermon  against  a  nameless  author,"  ibid. 
1611,4to.  6.  "  Two  Sermons,  the  one  commending  the 
ministry  in  general,  the  other,  the  office  of  bishops  in  par- 
ticular," ibid.  1608.  The  latter  of  these,  but  enlarged,  is 
the  consecration  sermon  above  mentioned.  7.  "  Papa 
Antichristus,  seu  Diatriba  de  Antichristo,"  ibid.  1620,  a 
different  treatise  from  the  former  against  Antichrist.  8. 

O 

"  The  Covenant  of  Grace,  or  an  Exposition  upon  Luke  i. 
73,  74,  75,"  Dublin,  1631,  8vo.  9.  "  A  treatise  on  Justi- 
fication," Lond.  1633,  folio.  10.  "  The  Christian's  Free- 
dom, or  the  doctrine  of  Christian  Liberty,"  Oxford,  1635, 
8vo.  11.  "An  Abstract  of  the  Duties  commanded,  and 
sins  forbidden  in  the  Law  of  God,"  Lond.  1635,  8vo.  12. 
"  A  godly  and  learned  Treatise  of  Prayer,"  Lond.  1640, 
4to.  These  three  last  were  posthumous. — His  brother  JOHN, 
above  mentioned,  was  likewise  educated  at  Cambridge, 
where  he  took  the  degree  of  B.  D.  He  exercised  his  mi- 
nistry in  different  parts  of  London,  and  was  the  first  who 
preached  the  Tuesday's  lecture  in  St.  Bartholomew  Ex- 
change, which  he  did  with  great  reputation.  His  princi- 
pal work  is  entitled  "The  Christian  Warfare."  He  died  in 
1644. l 

DOWNING  (CALYBUTE),  an  English  divine,  the  eldest 
son  of  Cal^bute  Downing  of  Shennington,  in  Gloucester- 
shire, gent,  was  born  in  1606,  and  in  1623  became  a  com- 
moner of  Oriel  college,  Oxford,  where  he  took  one  degree 
in  arts.  His  master's  degree,  according  to  Wood,  he  took 
at  Cambridge,  or  abroad  ;  after  which,  entering  into  orders, 
he  held  the  vicarage  of  Hackney,  near  London,  with  the 
parsonage  of  Hickford,  in  Buckinghamshire.  But  these  not 

'  Sir  James  Ware's  Works,  by  Harris. 


DOWNING.  299 

being  sufficient  for  his  ambition,  he  stood  in  competition 
with  Dr.  Gilbert  Sheldon  for  the  wardenship  of  All -soul's  ; 
and  losing  that,  was  a  suitor  to  be  chaplain  to  the  earl  of 
Stratford,  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  thinking  that  road 
might  lead  to  a  bishopric.  But  failing  there  also,  he  joined 
the  parliament  party,  and  became  a  great  promoter  of 
their  designs ;  and  in  a  sermon  preached  before  the  ar- 
tillery-company, Sept.  1,  1640,  delivered  this  doctrine: 
"  That  for  tiie  defence  of  religion,  and  reformation  of  the 
church,  it  was  lawful  to  take  up  arms  against  the  king  ;" 
but  fearing  to  be  called  in  question  for  this  assertion,  he 
retired  to  the  house  of  Robert  earl  of  Warwick,  at  Little 
Lees,  in  Essex.  After  this  he  became  chaplain  to  the 
lord  Robert's  regiment,  and  in  1643  was  one  of  the  as- 
sembly of  divines ;  but  died  in  the  midst  of  his  career,  in 
1644.  He  has  some  political  discourses  and  sermons  in 
print,  enumerated  by  Wood.  He  was  father  of  sir  George 
Downing,  made  by  king  Charles  II.  secretary  to  the  trea- 
sury, and  one  of  the  commissioners  for  the  customs.1 

DOWNMAN  (HUGH),  an  ingenious  physician  and  poet, 
the  son  of  a  country  gentleman  of  both  his  names,  was 
born  at  Newton  House,  in  the  village  of  Newton  St.  Cyrus, 
near  Exeter,  in  1740,  and  educated  at  the  grammar-school 
of  Exeter.  About  1758  he  was  entered  of  Baliol  college, 
Oxford,  where  he  remained  until  he  took  his  bachelor's 
degree,  and  in  1762  was  ordained  by  bishop  Lavington  in 
the  cathedral  of  Exeter,  but  he  had  little  attachment  to  the 
church,  nor  were  his  prospects  very  alluring.  In  1765  he 
repaired  to  Edinburgh,  with  a  view  to  study  medicine,  and 
took  up  his  abode  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Blacklock,  who, 
having  read  his  first  poetical  production,  "  The  Land  of 
the  Muses,"  bestowed  encouraging  praise.  This  poem 
was  published  at  Edinburgh  in  1768,  but  has  never  since 
been  reprinted.  To  it  were  added  "  Poems  on  several 
occasions,"  of  various  merit,  but  all  indicating  a  consi- 
derable share  of  poetical  taste.  In  1769,  Mr.  Downman 
came  to  London,  where  he  attended  the  hospitals  and 
lectures  for  one  winter.  He  then  received  his  master's 
degree  at  Cambridge,  and  soon  after  settled  as  a  prac- 
titioner at  Exeter,  and  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  An- 
drew, an  eminent  physician  in  that  city.  Here  his  practice 
was  rapidly  increasing,  when,  in  1778,  the  severity  of  a 
chronic  complaint,  contracted  in  his  earlier  years,  obliged 

I  Ath.  Ox.  yol.  II. 


DOWNMAN. 

him  to  consult  his  health  by  change  of  air,  and  retirement, 
during-  which  he  amused  himself  by  literary  efforts.  The 
first  was  his  tragedy  of  "  Lucius  ,'unius  Brutus,"  published 
in  1779,  in  which  there  are  some  poetical  beauties,  but  not 
enough  of  the  dramatic  form  to  suit  the  stage.  "  Beli- 
sarius,"  his  second  dramatic  attempt,  was  performed  at 
the  Exeter  theatre,  but  with  little  success;  but  his  third, 
"  Editha,"  brought  out  at  that  theatre  in  1781,  was  per- 
formed for  seventeen  nights.  This,  however,  must  be  im- 
puted to  its  being  founded  on  a  local  event  peculiarly 
interesting  to  an  Exeter  audience  ;  in  other  respects  all  his 
tragedies  must  be  allowed  to  be  better  adapted  to  the  closet 
than  the  stage. 

About  1777,  a  design  was  entertained  of  publishing  a 
translation  of  Voltaire's  works,  and  the  poetical  department 
was  entrusted  to  Dr,  Downman.  The  plan  was  too  exten- 
sive, and  those  who  undertook  it  failed.  The  publication, 
was  consequently  discontinued  ;  but  a  volume  of  the  tra- 
gedies, containing  CEdipus,  Mariamne,  Brutus,  and  The 
Death  of  Caesar,  was  printed  in  1781.  It  might  be  sus- 
pected, that  the  expressive  energy  of  our  author's  lan- 
guage was  little  suitable  to  the  expanded  tinsel  of  a  French 
dramatist;  yt't  he  is  thought  to  have  succeeded  in  fami- 
liarizing these  tragedies  to  the  English  reader.  When 
Mr.  Polwhele,  in  1792,  collected  the  original  miscellaneous 
poetry  of  Devonshire  ai>d  Cornwall,  Dr.  Downman,  at 
that  time  his  intimate  friend,  was  a  large  contributor.  His 
pen  indeed  was  seldom  from  his  hand,  and  his  poetical 
stock  was  almost  inexhaustible;  so  that,  while  many  poems 
were  distinguished  by  his  signature,  he  could  claim  many 
others  marked  with  single  initials. 

About  the  same  period  a  literary  society  was  established 
at  Exeter,  consisting  at  first  of  nine,  afterwards  augmented 
to  twelve  members.  The  design  of  this  meeting  was,  to 
unite  talents  of  different  descriptions,  and  genius  directed 
to  different  pursuits.  In  a  society  thus  formed,  conversa- 
tion would  probably  rise  superior  to  the  usual  discussion  of 
the  topics  of  the  day,  and  by  talents  thus  combined  or 
contrasted  each  might  improve  with  the  assistance  of  ano- 
ther. An  essay  on  any  subject,  except  a  strictly  profes- 
sional one,  was  read  by  every  member  in  his  turn,  which 
might  suggest  a  subject  of  discussion,  if  no  more  interest- 
ing one  occurred.  This  society  for  nearly  twelve  years 
was  conducted  with  equal  spirit  and  good  humour.  A 
volume  of  its  essays  has  been  published,  and  materials  for 


D  O  W  N  M  A  N.  301 

another  have  been  preserved  ;  but,  in  a  later  period,  the 
communications  were  less  numerous,  thon  ;h  the  society 
was  supported  with  equal  harmony  till  1808,  when  the 
impaired  health  of  Dr.  Downman,  its  firs:  founder  and 
chief  promoter,  damped  its  spirit,  and  the  meetings  were 
discontinued.  In  the  collections  of  this  s  )cirty  are  the 
few  prose  compositions  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir, 
though  generally  united  with  poetry.  The  very  judicious 
address  to  the  members,  on  their  first  meeting,  was  from 
his  pen  ;  and  the  defence  of  Pindar  from  the  imputation, 
of  writing  for  hire,  supposed  to  be  countenanced  by  pas- 
sages in  the  llth  Pythian,  and  the  2d  Isthmean  odes, 
accompanied  by  a  new  translation  of  each,  displays  equally 
his  learning  and  the  acuteness  of  his  critical  talents.  la 
the  same  volume  is  an  essay  "  on  the  origin  and  mythology 
of  the  Serpent  Worship,"  tracing  this  superstition  to  its 
earliest  periods,  in  Judea,  ^gypt,  and  Greece,  a  subject 
which  he  afterwards  pursued  with  respect  to  the  worship 
of  the  sun  and  fire,  in  an  exclusive  essay,  not  published, 
in  which,  pursuing  the  track  of  Mr.  Bryant,  he  chiefly 
rests  on  the  insecure  and  delusive  hasis  of  etymology. 
His  other  contributions  were  an  essay  on  the  shields  of 
Hercules  and  Achilles,  and  various  poetical  pieces.  But 
his  chief  reputation  is  founded  on  his  excellent  didactic 
poem  of  "  Infancy,"  first  published  in  1771,  and  received 
with  such  avidity  by  the  public,  that  he  lived  to  see  the 
seventh  edition.  He  had  now  so  far  recovered  as  to  be 
able  to  resume  his  profession,  and  his  practice  for  several 
years  was  extensive  and  successful.  In  1805,  increasing 
infirmities  warned  him  to  retire;  and,  weaning  himself 
from  business  by  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  Hampshire  and 
London,  he  declared  his  intention  of  resigning  it  entirely. 
This  determination  met  with  a  strenuous  opposition.  He 
was  urged  to  contract  his  limits ;  to  give  occasional  assist- 
ance in  consultation,  at  the  least  inconvenient  hours ;  in 
short,  to  continue  his  useful  labours  in  the  way  most  easy 
to  himself;  but  every  solicitation  was  in  vain,  and  he  re- 
tired to  private  life  with  the  eulogies  and  blessings  of  all 
around  him.  In  his  retirement,  he  made  few  original 
efforts.  He  reviewed  his  former  labours,  and  a  selection 
of  those  which  he  preferred  is  reserved  in  MS.  The 
"  Poems  sacred  to  Love  and  Beauty,"  appear  to  be  some 
of  these  early  efforts ;  and  he  published  with  his  last  cor- 
rections, the  seventh  edition  of  "  Infancy."  He  died  at 


302  DOWN   M   A  X. 

deeply   lamented  as  an   ingenious 

»lar,   an   able    and    humane,  physician,  and   an  amiable 
man. ' 

DKABICIUS  (Nicn  ,  was 

/,    in    Moraviii,    v.  IH-IC  hi  -  ' 

i  naster.      I.  .16, 

ami  •  d  Ins  function  at  DrAoiut/ ;   and  wlicn  In-  was 

obh  .  retreat  in   i  mut 

of   i  .<:ts  of  iL  -ainst  t!.«  :ant 

.D    I.eidnit/,   a  town    in    Hungary,   in 
no  hopes  of  being   restored   to  his  church, 
be  turned  woollen -draper;  in  which  occupation  hU  wife, 
who  was  tlu:  daughter  of  one,   was  of  •  .ire  to   him. 

Afterwards  lie  forgot  the  decorum  of  his  lornu-r  character 
so  much,  that  la-  decame  a  hard  drinker;  and  the  other 
ministers,  justly  scandali/ed  at  his  conduct,  informed  their 
superiors  of  it,  who,  in  a  synod  called  in  Poland,  examined 
into  the  affair,  and  resolved  that  Drahicius  should  b 
peii'led  from  the  ministry,  if  he  did  not  live  in  a  more 
edifying  manner.  This  obliged  him  to  behave  himself 
with  more  decency,  in  public  at  least. 

VV  hen  he  was  upwards  of  fifty  years  of  age,  he  commo; 
prophet.      He  bad  his  first  vision  in  the   night  of  Feb.  23, 
163S,  and  the  second  in  the  night  of  Jan.  23,  1G43.     The 
f:r>t  vision  promised  him  in  general  great  armies  from  the 
north  and  east,   which  should  crush  the  house  of  Austria ; 
the  second  declared  particularly,  that    Ragotski,  prince  of 
Transylvania,  should   command  the  army   from  the  e 
and  ordered   Drabicins  to   inform  his  brethren,  that   < 
was  about  to  restore  them  to  their  own  country,  and  to 
venge  the  injuries  done  to  his  people  ;  and  that  they  should 
prepare   themselves    for  this   deliverance    by  ;md 

prayer.      He  received  orders  to  write  down  what  1, 
revealed  to  him ;   and  to  begin    in   the  manner  of  the  an- 
cient prophets,   "  The  word  of  the    Lord   came  unto   me.'* 
His    \isions,    however,    were    not  much   regarded    at   first. 
These  two  were  followed  l>v  many  others  in  the  same  year, 
''>  ;   and   there  was  one,   which  ordered,  that  he   should 
open  tlu;   whole   allair    to   (.'omenius,   who  was  then  at.  Kl- 
biii4,   in  Prussia.      One  of  his  \  isions,  in  1644,  assured  bin 
that  the  imperial   troops   should    not   destroy   the   n 
They  committed  great  ravages  upon  the  territories  of  Ra> 

»  Geut  Mag.  rol.  LXXX. 


D  R  A  B  I  C  I  U  S.  303 

gotski,  plundered  the  town  of  Leidnitz,  and  besieged  the 
castle.     Drabicius  shut  himself  up  there,  and  did  not  de- 
pend so  entirely  upon   the  divine  assurances  as  to   think 
human  means  unnecessary.      He  even  set  his  hand   to  the 
works :   "  he  would  not  only  be  present,"  says  Comenius, 
who  blames  him  for  it,  "  but  also  fire   one   of  the  cannon 
himself;    whereas,    it  would   have  been   more   proper  for 
him  to  have  been  in  a  corner,  and  to  have  applied  himself 
to  prayer.     But  the   imprudent   zeal  of  this  new   Peter, 
presuming  to  defend  the   Lord  with  the  material  sword, 
was  chastised  by  the  Lord  himself,  who  permitted  part  of 
the  flame  to  recoil  upon  his  face,  and  to  hurt  one  of  his  eyes.'* 
The  imperialists  raised  the  siege  ;  but  soon  after  besieged 
the  place  again,  and  took  it.     The  refugees  were  plun- 
dered, and  Drabicius  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  imperialists. 
This  did  not  prevent  him   from   going  to   Ragotski,    and 
telling  him,  Aug.  1645,  that  God  commanded   him  to  de- 
stroy the  house  of  Austria  and  the  pope  ;  and   that,  "  if 
he  refused  to  attack   that  nest  of  vipers,  he  would  draw 
down  upon  his  family  a  general  ruin."     The  prince  already 
knew  that  Drabicius  bad  assumed  the  character  of  a  pro- 
phet ;    for  Drabicius,    according   to    the  repeated  orders 
which  he  had   received  in  his   ecstacies,  had   sent  him  a 
copy  of  his  revelations,  which  Ragotski  threw  into  the  fire. 
The  death  of  that  prince,  in  Oct.  16  ±7,  plunged  Drabicius 
into  extreme  sorrow;  who  was  in  the  utmost  fear  lest  his 
revelation  should  vanish  into  smoke,  and  himself  be  ex- 
posed to  ridicule.     But  he  had  one  ecstatic  consolation, 
which  re-animated  him  ;    and   that  was,  that  God  would 
send  him  Comenius,  to  whom  he  should  communicate  his 
writings.     Comenius  having  business  in  Hungary,  in  1650, 
saw  Drabicius  there,  and  his  prophecies;  and  made  such 
reflections  as  he  thought  proper,  upon  the  vision's  having 
for  three  years  before  promised  Drabicius  that  he  should 
have    Comenius  for   a    coadjutor.      Sigismond    Ragotski, 
being  .urged   by  Drabicius  to  make  war  against  the  em- 
peror, and  by  his  mother  to  continue  in  peace  with  him, 
was  somewhat  perplexed.      Drabicius  denounced   against 
him  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty,  in  case  of  peace;  and 
his  mother  threatened  him  with  her  curse  in  case  of  war. 
In  this  dilemma  he  recommended  himself  to  the  prayers 
of  Drabicius  and  Comenius,  and  kept  himself  quiet  till  his 
death. 


304  DRABICIUS. 

In  1654  Drabicius  was  restored  to  his  ministry,  and  his 
visions  p  esemed  themselves  more  frequently  than  ever; 
ordering  from  lime  to  time  that  they  should  be  communi- 
cated to  his  coadjutqr  Comenius,  that  be  might  publish 
them  to  ail  nations  and  languages,  and  particularly  to  the 
Turks  and  Tartars.  Comenius  found  himself  embarrassed 
between  the  fear  of  God,  and  that  of  men  ;  he  was  appre- 
hensive that  by  not  printing  the  revelations  of  Drabicins 
he  should  disobey  God,  and  that  by  printing  them  he 
should  expose  himself  to  the  ridicule  and  censure  of  men. 
He  took  a  middle  way  ;  he  resolved  to  print  them,  and 
not  to  distribute  the  copies  ;  and  upon  this  account  he  en- 
titled the  book  "  Lux  in  Tenebris."  But  his  resolution 
did  not  continue  long ;  it  gave  way  to  two  remarkable 
events,  which  were  taken  for  a  grand  crisis,  and  the  un- 
ravelling of  the  mystery.  One  of  these  events  was  the 
irruption  of  George  Ragotski  into  Poland  ;  the  other,  the 
death  of  the  emperor  Ferdinand  III.,  but  both  events  far 
from  answering  the  predictions,  served  only  to  confound 
them.  Ragotski  perished  in  his  descent  upon  Poland ; 
and  Leopold,  king  of  Hungary,  was  elected  emperor  in 
the  room  of  his  father  Ferdinand  III.  by  which  election 
the  house  of  Austria  was  almost  restored  to  its  former 
grandeur,  and  the  protestants  in  Hungary  absolutely 
ruined.  Drabicius  was  the  greatest  sufferer  by  this ;  for 
the  court  of  Vienna,  being  informed  that  he  was  the  per- 
son who  sounded  the  trumpet  against  the  house  of  Austria, 
sought  means  to  punish  him,  and,  as  it  is  said,  succeeded 
in  it.  What  became  of  him,  we  cannot  learn  ;  some  say 
that  he  was  burnt  for  an  impostor  and  false  prophet ; 
others,  that  he  died  in  Turkey,  whither  he  had  fled  for 
refuge ;  but  neither  of  these  accounts  is  certain. 

The  "  Lux  in  Tenebris"  was  printed  by  Comenius,  at 
Amsterdam,  in  1657;  and  contains  not  only  the  revela- 
tions of  our  Drabicius,  but  those  of  Christopher  Kotterus, 
and  of  Christina  Poniatovia.  Comenius  published  au 
abridgement  of  it  in  1660,  with  this  title,  "  Revelationum 
divinarum  in  usum  saeculi  nostri  factarum  epitome."  He 
reprinted  the  whole  work,  with  this  title,  "  Lux  e  tenebris 
novis  radiis  aucta,  &c."  These  new  rays  were  a  sequel  of 
Drabicius's  revelations,  which  extended  to  1666.* 

1  Gen.  Diet.— Moreri. — See  COMEMUI,  vol.  X. 


DRACO.  305 

DRACO,  an  eminent  legislator  of  Athens,  succeeded 
Triptolemus  in  the  39th  olympiad,  324  years  B.C.  When 
the  laws  of  Triptolemus  were  found  insufficient  for  the  re- 
gulation of  the  state,  Draco  instituted  a  new  code,  which 
was  so  extremely  rigorous,  that  his  Jaws  were  said  to  be 
written  in  blood.  Under  his  system  of  legislation,  death 
was  the  penalty  for  every  kind  of  offence,  in  vindication  of 
which  he  alleged,  that  as  small  faults  seemed  to  him 
worthy  of  death,  he  could  find  no  severer  punishment  for 
the  greatest  crimes.  Such,  however,  was  his  abhorrence 
of  the  crime  of  taking  away  life,  that  he  directed  a  prose- 
cution to  be  instituted  even  against  inanimate  things  which 
had  been  instrumental  to  this  purpose,  and  sentenced  a 
statue,  which  had  fallen  upon  a  man  and  killed  him,  to  be 
banished  ;  an  absurdity  which  shews  the  rude  state  of  le-? 
gislation  in  his  time.  Some  of  his  laws  were  the  result  o£ 
age  and  experience,  and  owed  their  effect  to  the  opinion 
that  was  entertained  of  his  virtue  and  patriotism,  but  the 
Athenians  could  not  endure  the  rigour  of  others,  and  the 
legislator  himself  was  obliged  to  withdraw  to  the  island  of 
./Egina,  where  he  suffered  as  severely  from  his  friends, 
as  he  could  from  his  enemies,  being,  as  we  are  told,  suf- 
focated at  the  public  theatre,  amidst  the  applauses  of  the; 
people.  The  rigour  of  his  discipline  was  in  some  measure 
relaxed  by  Solon,  in  the  46th  olympiad.1 

DRAKE  (Sia  FRANCIS),  one  of  our  most  distinguished 
naval  heroes,  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was 
the  son  of  Edmund  Drake,  a  sailor,  and  born  near  Tavi- 
stock,  in  Devonshire,  in  1545,  but  some  have  said  that 
he  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman.  He  was,  however,  brought 
up  at  the  expence,  and  under  the  care,  of  sir  John  Haw- 
kins, who  was  his  kinsman  ;  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  purser  of  a  ship  trading  to  Biscay.  At  twenty  he 
made  a  voyage  to  Guinea;  and  at  twenty-two  had  the 
honour  to  be  made  captain  of  the  Judith.  In  that  capacity 
he  was  in  the  harbour  of  St.  John  de  Ulloa,  in  the  gulph 
of  Mexico,  where  he  behaved  most  gallantly  in  the  glo- 
rious actions  under  sir  John  Hawkins,  and  returned  with 
him  to  England  with  great  reputation,  though  as  poor  as 
he  set  out.  Upon  this  he  projected  a  design  against  the 
Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies,  which  he  no  sooner  an- 
nounced, than  he  had  volunteers  enough  ready  to  accora- 

'  Moreri. — Brucker. 

VOL.  XII.  X 


306  D  R  A  K  E. 

pany  him.  In  1570  he  made  bis  first  expedition  with  two 
ships  ;  and  the  next  year  with  one  only,  in  which  he  re- 
turned safe,  if  not  with  such  advantages  as  he  expected. 
He  made  another  expedition  in  1572,  did  the  Spaniards 
some  mischief,  and  gained  considerable  hooties.  In  these 
expeditions  he  was  much  assisted  by  a  nation  of  Indians, 
who  then  were,  and  have  been  ever  since,  engaged  iu 
perpetual  wars  with  the  Spaniards.  The  prince  of  these 
people  was  named  Pedro,  to  whom  Drake  presented  a  fine 
cutlass  from  his  side,  which  he  saw  the  Indian  greatly  ad- 
mired. Pedro,  in  return,  gave  him  four  large  wedges  of 
gold,  which  Drake  threw  into  the  common  stock,  with 
this  remarkable  expression,  that"  he  thought  it  but  just, 
that  such  as  bore  the  charge  of  so  uncertain  a  voyage  on 
his  credit,  should  share  the  utmost  advantages  that  voyage 
produced."  Then  embarking  his  men  with  all  the  wealth 
he  had  obtained,  which  was  very  considerable,  he  bore 
away  for  England,  where  he  arrived  in  August,  1573. 

His  success  in  this  expedition,  joined  to  his  honourable 
behaviour  towards  his  owners,  gained  him  high  reputation, 
which  was  increased  by  the  use  he  made  of  his  riches.  For, 
fitting  out  three  slout  frigates  at  his  own  expence,  he  sailed 
with  them  into  Ireland,  where,  under  Walter  earl  of  Essex, 
the  father  of  the  famous  unfortunate  earl,  he  served  as  a 
volunteer,  and  performed  many  gallant  exploits.  After 
the  death  of  his  noble  patron,  he  returned  into  England  ; 
where  sir  Christopher  Hatton,  vice-chamberlain  to  queen 
Elizabeth,  and  privy-counsellor,  introduced  him  to  her 
majesty,  and  procured  him  countenance  and  protection  at 
court.  By  this  means  he  acquired  a  capacity  of  under- 
taking that  grand  expedition,  which  will  render  his  name 
immortal.  The  first  thing  he  proposed  was  a  voyage  into 
the  South-seas,  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  which 
hitherto  no  Englishman  had  ever  attempted.  The  project 
was  well  received  at  court ;  the  queen  furnished  him  with 
means  ;  and  his  own  fame  quickly  drew  together  a  force 
sufficient.  The  fleet  with  which  he  sailed  on  this  extra- 
ordinary undertaking,  consisted  only  of  five  small  vessels, 
compared  with  modern  ships,  and  no  more  than  164  able 
men.  He  sailed  from  England,  Dec.  13,  1577;  on  the 
25th  fell  in  with  the  coast  of  Barbary,  and  on  the  29th 
with  Cape  Verd.  March  13,  he  passed  the  equinoctial, 
made  the  coast  of  Brazil  April  5,  1578,  and  entered  the 
river  de  la  Plata,  where  he  lost  the  company  of  two  of  his 


DRAKE.  307 

ships;  but  meeting  them  again,  and  taking  out  their  pro- 
visions, he  turned  them  adrift.  May  29,  he  entered  the 
port  of  St.  Julian,  where  he  continued  two  months,  for  the 
sake  of  laying  in  provisions;  Aug.  20>  he  entered  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  ;  and  Sept.  25  passed  them,  having 
then  only  his  own  ship.  Nov.  25,  he  came  to  Machao, 
which  he  had  appointed  for  a  place  of  rendezvous,  in  case 
his  ships  separated  :  but  captain  Winter,  his  vice-admiral, 
having  repassed  the  Straits,  was  returned  to  England. 
Thence  he  continued  his  voyage  along  the  coasts  of  Chili 
and  Peru,  taking  all  opportunities  of  seizing  Spanish  ships, 
and  attacking  them  on  shore,  till  his  crew  were  sated  with 
plunder;  and  then  coasting  North-America  to  the  height 
of  48  degrees,  he  endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  find  a  pas- 
sage back  into  our  seas  on  that  side.  He  landed,  however, 
and  called  the  country  New  Albion,  taking  possession  of 
it  in  the  name  and  for  the  use  of  queen  Elizabeth  ;  and, 
having  careened  his  ship,  set  sail  from  thence  Sept.  29, 
1579,  for  the  Moluccas.  He  is  supposed  to  have  chosen 
this  passage  round,  partly  to  avoid  being  attacked  by  the 
Spaniards  at  a  disadvantage,  and  partly  from  the  lateness 
of  the  season,  when  dangerous  storms  and  hurricanes  were 
to  be  apprehended.  Oct.  13,  he  fell  in  with  certain 
islands,  inhabited  by  the  most  barbarous  people  he  had 
met  with  in  all  his  voyage;  and,  Nov.  4,  he  had  sight  of 
the  Moluccas,  and,  coming  to  Ternate,  was  extremely 
well  received  by  the  king  thereof,  who  appears,  from  the 
most  authentic  relations  of  this  voyage,  to  have  been  a 
wise  and  polite  prince.  Dec.  10,  he  made  Celebes,  where 
his  ship  unfortunately  ran  upon  a  rock  Jan.  9th  following; 
from  which,  beyond  all  expectation,  and  in  a  manner  mi- 
raculously, they  got  off,  and  continued  their  course. 
March  16,  he  arrived  at  Java  Major,  and  from  thence  in- 
tended to  have  directed  his  course  to  Malacca  ;  but  founrf 
himself  obliged  to  alter  his  purpose,  and  to  think  of  re- 
turning home.  March  25,  1580,  he  put  this  design  in 
execution  ;  and  June  15,  doubled  the  cape  of  Good  Hope, 
having  then  on  board  57  men,  and  but  three  casks  of 
water.  July  12,  he  passed  the  Line,  reached  the  coast  of 
Guinea  the  16th,  and  there  watered.  Sept.  11,  he  made 
the  island  of  Tercera ;  and  Nov.  3,  entered  the  harbour 
of  Plymouth.  This  voyage  round  the  globe  was  performed 
in  two  years  and  about  ten  months. 

X  2 


SOS  BRA  K  E. 

His  success  in  this  voyage,  and  the  immense  mass  of 
wealth  he  brought  home,  raised  much  discourse  through- 
out the  kingdom ;  some  highly  commending-,  and  some  as 
loudly  decrying  him.  The  former  alleged,  that  his  exploit 
>vas  not  only  honourable  to  himself,  but  to  his  country  ; 
that  it  would  establish  our  reputation  for  maritime  skill  in 
foreign  nations,  and  raise  an  useful  spirit  of  emulation  at 
home  ;  and  that,  as  to  the  money,  our  merchants  having 
suffered  much  from  the  faithless  practices  of  the  Spaniards, 
there  was  nothing  more  just,  than  that  the  nation  should 
receive  the  benefit  of  Drake's  reprisals.  The  other  party 
alleged,  that  in  fact  he  was  no  better  than  a  pirate;  that, 
of  all  others,  it  least  became  a  trading  nation  to  encourage 
such  practices ;  that  it  was  not  only  a  direct  breach  of  all 
our  late  treaties  with  Spain,  but  likewise  of  our  old  leagues 
with  the  house  of  Burgundy ;  and  that  the  consequences 
would  be  much  more  fatal  than  the  benefits  reaped  from  it 
could  be  advantageous.  This  difference  of  opinion  con- 
tinued during  the  remainder  of  1580,  and  the  spring  of 
the  succeeding  year ;  but  at  length  justice  was  done  to 
Drake's  services;  for,  April  4,  1581,  her  majesty,  going 
to  Deptford,  went  on  board  his  ship;  where,  after  dinner, 
she  conferred  on  him  the  honour  of  knighthood,  and  de- 
clared her  absolute  approbation  of  all  he  had  done.  She 
likewise  gave  directions  for  the  preservation  of  his  ship, 
that  it  might  remain  a  monument  of  his  own  and  his  coun- 
try's glory.  Camden,  in  his  Britannia,  has  taken  notice 
of  an  extraordinary  circumstance  relating  to  this  ship  of 
Drake's,  where,  speaking  of  the  shire  of  Buchan,  in  Scot- 
land, he  says,  "It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  mention  the 
clayks,  a  sort  of  geese,  which  are  believed  by  some  with 
great  admiration,  to  grow  upon  trees  on  this  coast,  and  in 
other  places,  and  when  they  are  ripe,  they  fall  down  into 
the  sea,  because  neither  their  nests  nor  eggs  can  any  where 
be  found.  But  they  who  saw  the  ship  in  which  sir  Francis 
Drake  sailed  round  the  world,  when  it  was  laid  up  in  the 
river  Thames,  could  testify  that  little  birds  breed  in  the 
old  rotten  keels  of  ships,  since  a  great  number  of  such, 
without  life  and  feathers,  stuck  close  to  the  outside  of  the 
keel  of  that  ship."  This  celebrated  ship,  which  had  been 
contemplated  many  years  at  Deptford,  at  length  decaying, 
it  was  broke  «p  ;  and  a  chair  made  out  of  the  planks  was 
presented  to  the*  university  of  Oxford. 


DRAKE.  309 

In  1585  he  sailed  with  a  fleet  to  the  West  Indies,  and 
took  the  cities  of  St.  Jago,  St.  Domingo,  Carthagena,  and 
St.  Augustin.  In  1587  he  went  to  Lisbon  with  a  fleet  of 
30  sail  ;  and,  having  intelligence  of  a  great  fleet  assembled 
in  the  bay  of  Cadiz,  which  was  to  have  made  part  of  the 
armada,  he  with  great  courage  entered  that  port,  and  burnt 
there  upwards  of  10,000  tons  of  shipping  :  which  he  after- 
wards merrily  called,  "  burning  the  king  of  Spain's  beard." 
In  1558,  when  the  armada  from  Spain  was  approaching 
our  coasts,  he  was  appointed  vice-admiral  under  Charles 
lord  Howard  of  Efringham,  high-admiral  of  England, 
where  fortune  favoured  him  as  remarkably  as  ever  :  for  he 
made  prize  of  a  very  large  galleon,  commanded  by  don 
Pedro  de  Valclez,  who  was  reputed  the  projector  of  this 
invasion.  This  affair  happened  in  the  following  manner  : 
July  22,  sir  Francis,  observing  a  great  Spanish  ship  float- 
ing at  a  distance  from  both  fleets,  sent  his  pinnace  to  sum- 
mon the  commander  to  yield.  Valdez  replied,  with  much 
Spanish  solemnity,  that  they  were  450  strong,  that  he 
himself  was  don  Pedro,  and  stood  much  upon  his  honour, 
and  propounded  several  conditions,  upon  which  he  was 
willing  to  yield  :  but  the  vice-admiral  replied,  that  he  had 
no  leisure  to  parley,  but  if  he  thought  fit  instantly  to  yield 
he  might;  if  not,  he  should  soon  rind  that  Drake  was  no 
coward.  Pedro,  hearing  the  name  of  Drake,  immediately 
yielded,  and  with  46  of  his  attendants  came  aboard  Drake's 
ship.  This  don  Pedro  remained  above  two  years  his  pri- 
soner in  England  ;  and,  when  he  was  released,  paid  him. 
for  his  own  and  his  captain's  liberties,  a  ransom  of  3500/. 
Drake's  soldiers  were  well  recompensed  with  the  plunder 
of  this  ship  :  for  they  found  in  it  55,000  ducats  of  gold, 
which  was  divided  among  them. 

In  the  mean  time  it  must  not  be  dissembled,  concerning 
the  expedition  in  general,  that,  through  an  oversight  of 
Drake,  the  admiral  ran  the  utmost  hazard  of  being  taken 
by  the  enemy.  For  Drake  being  appointed,  the  first  night 
of  the  engagement,  to  carry  lights  for  the  direction  of  tne 
English  fleet,  was  led  to  pursue  some  hulks  belonging  to 
the  Hansetowns,  and  so  neglected  this  orh'ce ;  which  occa- 
sioned the  admiral's  following  the  Spanish  lights,  and  re- 
maining almost  in  the  centre  of  their  fleet  till  morning. 
However,  his  succeeding  services  sufficiently  atoned  for 
this  mistake,  the  greatest  execution  done  on  the  flying 
Spaniards  being  performed  by  the  squadron  under  his  com- 


310  DRAKE. 

mand.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  Spaniards,  notwithstand- 
ing their  loss  was  so  great,  and  their  defeat  so  notorious, 
took  great  pains  to  propagate  false  stories,  which  in  some 
places  gained  so  much  credit  as  to  hide  their  shame.  A 
little  before  this  formidable  Spanish  armament  put  to  sea, 
the  ambassador  of  his  catholic  majesty  had  the  confidence 
to  propound  to  queen  Elizabeth,  in  Latin  verse,  the  terms 
iipon  which  she  might  hope  for  peace  ;  which,  with  an 
English  translation  of  a  very  homely  kind,  by  Dr.  Fuller, 
we  will  insert  in  this  place,  because  Drake's  expedition  to 
the  West  Indies  makes  a  part  of  this  message.  The  verses 
are  these  : 

"  Te  veto  ne  pergas  bello  defendere  Belgas  : 
<Quce  Dracus  cripuit  nunc  rcstituautur  oportet : 
Quas  pater  evertit  jubeo  te  condere  cellas  : 
Keligio  Papte  fac  restituatur  ad  unguem." 

"  These  to  you  are  our  commands, 
Send  no  help  to  th'  Netherlands  •. 
Of  the  treasure  took  by  Drake, 
Restitution  you  must  make  : 
And  those  abbies  build  anew, 
Which  your  father  overthrew  : 
If  for  any  peace  you  hope, 
In  all  points  restore  the  pope." 

The  queen's  extempore  return : 

"  Ad  Graecas,  bone  rex,  fient  rnandata  calendas." 

"  Worthy  king,  know,  this  your  will 
At  latter-lammas  we'll  fulfil." 

In  1589  he  commanded  as  admiral  of  the  fleet  sent  to 
restore  don  Antonio,  king  of  Portugal,  the  command  of 
the  land-forces  being  given  to  sir  John  Norris  :  but  they 
were  hardly  got  to  sea,  before  the  commanders  differed, 
and  the  attempt  proved  abortive.  The  war  with  Spain 
continuing,  a  more  effectual  expedition  was  undertaken 
by  sir  John  Hawkins  and  Drake,  against  their  settlements 
in  the  West  Indies,  than  had  hitherto  been  made  duriug 
the  whole  course  of  it :  but  the  commanders  here  again 
not  agreeing  about  the  plan,  this  also  did  not  turn  out  so 
successful  as  was  expected.  All  diiriculties,  before  these 
two  last  expeditions,  had  given  way  to  the  skill  and  for- 
tune of  Drake  ;  which  probably  was  the  reason  why  he  did 
not  bear  these  disappointments  so  well  as  he  otherwise 
would  have  done.  A  strong  sense  of  them  is  supposed  to 
have  thrown  him  into  a  melancholy,  which  occasioned  a 


DRAKE.  311 

bloody-flux ;  and  of  this  he  died  on  board  his  own  ship, 
near  the  town  of  Noinbre  de  Dios  in  the  West  Indies,  Jan. 
28,  1596.  His  death  was  lamented  by  the*  whole  nation, 
and  particularly  by  his  countrymen,  who  had  great  reason 
to  love  him  from  the  circumstances  of  his  private  life,  as 
well  as  to  esteem  him  in  his  public  character.  He  was' 
elected  burgess  for  Bossiney,  alias  Tintagal,  in  Cornwall, 
in  the  27th  parliament  of  Elizabeth  ;  and  for  Plymouth  in. 
Devonshire,  in  the  35th.  This  town  had  very  particular 
obligations  to  him  ;  for  in  1587  he  undertook  to  bring  wa- 
ter into  it,  through  the  want  of  which,  till  then,  it  had 
been  grievously  distressed  :  and  he  performed  it  by  con- 
ducting thither  a  stream  from  springs  at  eight  miles  dis- 
tance, in  a  straight  line  :  but  in  the  manner  he  brought  it, 
the  course  of  it  runs  upwards  of  twenty  miles. 

Sir  Francis  Drake  was  low  of  stature,  but  well  formed, 
had  a  broad  open  chest,  a  very  round  head,  his  hair  of  a 
line  brown,  his  beard  full  and  comely,  his  eyes  large  and 
clear,  of  a  fair  complexion,  with  a  fresh,  cheerful,  and 
very  engaging  countenance.  As  navigation  had  been  his 
whole  study,  so  he  understood  it  thoroughly,  and  was  a 
perfect  master  in  every  branch,  especially  in  astronomy, 
and  in  the  application  of  it  to  the  art  of  sailing.  He  had 
the  happiness  to  live  under  the  reign  of  a  princess,  who 
never  failed  to  distinguish  merit,  and  to  reward  it.  He 
was  always  her  favourite;  and  she  gave  an  uncommon 
proof  of  it,,  in  regard  to  a  quarrel  he  had  with  his  country- 
man sir  Bernard  Drake,  whose  arms  sir  Francis  assuming, 
the  other  was  so  provoked  at  it,  that  he  gave  him  a  box  on 
the  ear.  Upon  this,  the  queen  took  up  the  quarrel,  and 
gave  sir  Francis  a  new  coat,  which  is  thus  emblazoned  : 
"  Sable,  a  fess  wavy  between  two  pole  stars  Argent,"  and 
for  his  crest,  "  a.  ship  on  a  globe  under  ruff,"  held  by  a 
cable,  with  a  hand  out  of  the  clouds,  over  it  this  motto, 
"auxilio  divino  ;"  underneath,  "sic  parvis  nriagna ;"  in  the 
rigging  of  which  is  hung  up  by  the  heels  a  wivern  Gules  ; 
which  was  the  arms  of  sir  Bernard  Drake.  Her  majesty's 
kindness,  however,  did  not  extend  beyond  the  grave  ;  for 
she  suffered  his  brother  Thomas  Drake,  whom  he  made 
his  heir,  to  be  prosecuted  for  a  pretended  debt  to  the 
crown ;  which  prosecution  hurt  him  a  good  deal.  It  is 
indeed  true,  that  sir  Francis  died  without  issue,  but  not 
a  bachelor,  as  some  authors  have  written  ;  for  ije  left  be- 
hind him  a  widow,  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  sole  heiress  of 


312  DRAKE. 

sir  George  Sydenham,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  knt.  who 
afterwards  was  married  to  William  Courtenay,  esq.  of  Pow- 
derham  castle  in  the  same  county,  the  ancestor  of  the 
noble  family  of  Courtenay. ' 

DRAKE  (FRANCIS),  a  surgeon  at  York,  and  an  eminent 
antiquary,  was  much  esteemed  by  Dr.  Mead,   Mr.  Folkes, 
the  two  Mr.  Gales,  and  all  the  principal  members  of  the 
Royal  and  Antiquarian  Societies.      He  published,  in  1736, 
"  Eboracum  ;  or  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  City  of 
York,"  a  splendid  folio.     A  copy  of  it  with  large  manu- 
script additions  was  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  the  late  rev. 
William  Drake,  vicar  of  Isleworth,  who  died  in  1801,  and 
was  himself  an  able  antiquary,  as  appears  by  his  articles  in 
the  Archseologia,  and  would  have   republisbed  his  father's 
work,  if  the  plates  could  have  been  recovered.      Mr.  Drake 
was  elected  F.  S.  A.  in  1735,  and  F.  R.  S.  in  1736.     From 
this  latter  society,  for   whatever   reason,  he  withdrew  in 
1769,  and   died  the  following  year.     Mr.  Cole,  who  has 
a  few  memorandums  concerning  him,  informs  us  that  when 
the  oaths  to  government  were  tendered  to  him  in  1745,  he 
refused  to  take  them.     He  describes  him  as  a  middle-aged 
man  (in  1749)  tall  and  thin,  a  surgeon  of  good  skill,    but 
whose  pursuits  as  an  antiquary  had  made  him  negligent  of 
his  profession.     Mr.  Cole  also   says,   that  Mr.  Drake  and 
Csesar  Ward,  the  printer  at  York,  were  the  authors  of  the 
"  Parliamentary  or  Constitutional   History   of    England," 
printed    in    twenty-four   volumes,    1751,    &c.    8vo.     This 
work  extends  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  restoration.7 

DRAKE  (JAMES),  a  celebrated  political  writer  and  phy- 
sician, was  born  at  Cambridge  in  1667  ;  and  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  admitted  a  member  of  that  university,  where  he 
soon  distinguished  himself  by  his  uncommon  parts  and  in- 
genuity. Some  time  before  the  revolution,  he  took  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  and  after  that  of  M.  A.  bur,  going  to  Lon- 
don in  1693,  and  discovering  an  inclinutioji  for  the  study 
of  physic,  he  was  encouraged  in  the  pursuit  of  it  by  sir 
Thomas  Millington,  and  the  most  eminent  members  of  the 
college  of  physicians.  In  1696  he  took  the  degree  of  doc- 
tor in  that  faculty  ;  and  was  soon  after  elected  F.  R.  S.  and 
a  fellow  of  the  college  of  physicians.  But  whether  his  own 
inclination  led  him,  or  whether  he  did  it  purely  to  supply 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Prince's  Worthies  of  Devon. 

?  Gouglj's  Topography.— Cole's  MS  Athens  in  Brit.  Mus. 


DRAKE.  313 

the  defects  of  a  fortune,  which  was  not  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  keep  a  proper  equipage  as  a  physician  in  town,  he 
applied  himself  to  writing  for  the  booksellers.  In  1697  he 
was  concerned  in  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet,  entitled 
"  Commendatory  verses  upon  the  author  of  prince  Arthur 
and  king  Arthur."  In  1702  he  published  in  Svo,  "The 
History  of  the  last  Parliament,  begun  at  Westminster 
Feb.  10,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  king  William,  A.  D.  1700." 
This  created  him  some  trouble  ;  for  the  house  of  lords, 
thinking  it  reflected  too  severely  on  the  memory  of  king 
Williau),  summoned  the  author  before"  them  in  May  1702, 
and  ordered  him  to  be  prosecuted  by  the  attorney-general ; 
who  brought  him  to  a  trial,  at  which  he  was  acquitted  the 
year  following. 

In  1704,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  rejection  of  the  bill 
to  prevent  occasional  conformity,  and  with  the  disgrace  of 
some  of  his  friends  who  were  sticklers  for  it,  he  wrote,  in 
concert  with  Mr.  Poley,  member  of  parliament  for  Ipswich, 
"  The  Memorial  of  the  Church  of  England  :   humbly  of- 
fered   to  the  consideration  of  all  true  lovers  of  our  Church 
and   Constitution,"   Svo.     The   treasurer  Godolphin,  and 
the  other   great  officers  of  the  crown  in  the  whig  interest, 
severely  reflected  on  in  this  work,  were  so  highly  offended, 
that  they   represented   it  to  the  queen  as  an  insult  upon 
her  honour,  and  an  intimation  that  the  church  was  in  dan- 
ger under  her  administration.     Accordingly   her  majesty 
took  notice-of  it  in  her  speech  to  the  ensuing  parliament, 
Oct.  27,  1705;  and   was  addressed  by  both    houses  upon 
that  occasion.     Soon  after,  the  queen,  at  the  petition  of 
the  house  of  commons,  issued  a  proclamation  for  discover- 
ing  the   author    of   the  "  Memorial ;"    but   no    discovery 
could    be  made.     The   parliament  was  not  the  only  body 
that  shewed  their  resentment  to  this  book;  for  the  grand 
jury  of  the  city  of  London  having  presented  it  at  the  ses- 
sions, as  a   false,  scandalous,  and  traitorous  libel,  it  wa*s 
immediately   burnt  in    the  sight  of  the  court  then  sitting, 
and  afterwards  before  the  Royal  Exchange,  by  the  hands 
of  the  common  hangman.  But  though  Drake  then  escaped, 
yet  as  he  was  very  much  suspected  of  being  the  author  of 
that  book,  and  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious  upon  other 
accounts  to  persons  then  in  power,  occasions  were  sought 
to  ruin  him  if  possible  ;  and  a  newspaper  he  was  publish- 
ing at  that  time  under  the  title  of  "  Mercurius  Politicus," 
afforded   his   enemies   the  pretence   they   wanted.     For, 


314  DRAKE. 

taking  exception  at  some  passages  in  it,  they  prosecuted 
him  in  the  queen's-bench  in  1706.  His  case  was  argued 
at  the  bar  of  that  court,  April  30 ;  when,  upon  a  flaw  in 
the  information  (the  simple  change  of  an  r  for  a  t,  or  nor 
for  not]  the  trial  was  adjourned,  and  in  November  follow- 
ing the  doctor  was  acquitted  ;  but  the  government  brought 
a  writ  of  error.  The  severity  of  this  prosecution,  joined 
to  repeated  disappointments  and  ill-usage  from  some  of 
his  party,  is  supposed  to  have  flung  him  into  a  fever,  of 
which  he  died  at  Westminster,  March  2,  1707,  not  without 
violent  exclamations  against  the  rigour  of  his  prosecutors. 

Besides  the  performances  already  mentioned,  he  made 
an  English  translation  of  Herodotus,  which  was  never  pub- 
lished. He  wrote  a  comedy  called  "The  Sham- Lawyer, 
or  the  Lucky  Extravagant ;"  which  was  acted  at  the  theatre 
royal  in  1697.  It  is  chiefly  borrowed  from  two  of  Fletcher's 
plays,  namely,  "  The  Spanish  Curate,"  and  "  Wit  without 
Money."  He  was  the  editor  of  Historia  Anglo-Scotica, 
1703,  8vo,  which  was  burnt  by  the  hands  of  the  hangman  at 
Edinburgh  :  in  the  dedication  he  says,  that,  "  upon  a  di- 
ligent revisal,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  discover  the  name 
of  the  author,  and  the  age  of  his  writing,  he  found,  that 
it  was  written  in,  or  at  least  not  finished  till,  the  time  of 
king  Charles  I."  But  he  says  nothing  more  ol?  the  MS.  nor 
how  it  came  into  his  hands.  But  whatever  merit  there 
might  be  in  his  political  writings,  or  however  they  might 
distinguish  him  in  his  life-time,  he  is  chiefly  known  now  by 
his  medical  works  :  by  his  new  "  System  of  Anatomy" 
particularly,  which  was  finished  a  little  before  his  decease, 
and  published  in  1707,  with  a  preface  by  W.  Wagstaffe, 
M.  D.  reader  of  anatomy  at  Surgeons'-hall.  Dr.  Wagstaffe 
tells  us,  that  Drake  "  eminently  excelled  in  giving  the 
rationale  of  tilings,  and  inquiring  into  the  nature  and 
causes  of  phsenomena.  He  does  not,"  says  he,  "  behave 
himself  like  a  mere  describer  of  the  parts,  but  like  an  un- 
prejudiced inquirer  into  nature,  and  an  absolute  master  of 
his  profession.  And  if  Dr.  Lower  has  been  so  much  and 
so  deservedly  esteemed  for  his  solution  of  the  systole  of 
the  heart,  Dr.  Drake,  by  accounting  for  the  diastole,  ought 
certainly  to  be  allowed  his  share  of  reputation,  and  to  be 
admitted  as  a  partner  of  his  glory."  A  second  edition  of 
this  work  was  published  in  1717,  in  2  vols.  8vo  ;  and  an 
appendix  in  1728,  8vo,  which  is  usually  bound  np  with 
the  second  volume.  The  plates,  which  are  very  numerous, 


DRAKE.  315 

are  accurately  drawn,  and  well  engraved.  Some  of  them 
are  taken  from  Swammerdam.  Dr.  Drake  added  notes  to 
the  English  translation  of  Le  Clerc's  "  History  of  Physic," 
printed  in  1699,  tfvo  ;  and  there  is  also,  in  the  Philosophi- 
cal Transactions,  a  discourse  of  his  concerning  some  in- 
fluence of  respiration  on  the  motion  of  the  heart  hitherto 
unobserved.  The  "  Memorial  of  the  Church  of  England," 
&c.  was  reprinted  in  8vo,  in  1711  ;  to  which  is  added,  an 
introductory  preface,  containing  the  life  and  death  of  the 
author;  from  which  this  present  account  is  chiefly  drawn. 

Mr.  D'Israeli,  who  has  introduced  Dr.  Drake  in  his  in- 
teresting work,  "  The  Calamities  of  Authors,"  informs  us 
that  Drake,  in  one  instance  at  least,  condescended  to  prac- 
tise literary  imposition.  He  reprinted  father  Parsons's 
famous  libel  against  the  earl  of  Leicester  in  queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  under  the  title  of  "  Secret  Memoirs  of  Ro- 
bert Dudley,  earl  of  Leicester,"  1706,  8vo,  with  a  pre- 
face pretending  it  was  printed  from  an  old  manuscript, 
instead  of  being  literally  taken  from  "  Leycester's  Com- 
monwealth." ' 

DRAKENBORCH  (ARNOLD),  an  eminent  classical  edi- 
tor, was  born  at  Utrecht,  Jan.  1,  1684,  where,  and  at 
Leyden,  he  was  educated.  In  171-6  he  was  appointed 
professor  of  rhetoric  and  history  at  Utrecht,  an  office  which 
he  filled  with  great  reputation.  The  first  publication 
which  evinced  his  talents  appeared  in  1704,  while  a  student 
under  Barman,  entitled  "  Dissertatio  Philologico-Histo- 
rica  de  prrefecto  urbis,"  of  which  a  new  edition  was 
printed  at  Francfort  in  1752;  and  three  years  after,  in 
1707,  he  published  another  dissertation  on  taking  his  de- 
gree of  doctor  of  laws,  "  De  officio  prsefectorum  Prsetorio,'* 
Utrecht,  Ho.  He  died  at  Utrecht  in  1748.  As  an  editor 
he  is  principally  known  by  his  edition  of  "  Silius  Italicus," 
1717,  4to,  a  very  valuable  work,  not  only  containing  every 
thing  worthy  of  perusal  in  the  preceding'  editions,  but 
enriched  with  the  notes  and  emendations  of  Heinsius,  and 
excerpta  from  an  Oxford  MS.  and  one  Belonging  to  Pu- 
teanus  ;  and  by  his  "  Livy,"  printed  at  Amsterdam,  1738, 
7  vols.  4to,  superior  to  all  which  went  before  it,  although 
not  immaculate,  and  the  commentaries,  it  is  generally 
allowed,  are  tediously  prolix. 2 

1  Biog.  Brit. — D' Israeli's  Calamities. 

*  Diet.  Hist. — Saxii  Onomast. — Dibdin's  Classics.— Schacktii  Qratio  funebris 
in  obitum  Drakenborch,  Utrecht,  1748,  4to. 


316  DRANT. 

DRAN.     See  LEDRAN. 

DRANT  (THOMAS),  an  English  divine  and  poet,  of  the 
sixteenth    century,  was    educated    at    St.   John's    college, 
Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  degree  of  bachelor  in  divi- 
nity in  1569.     The  same  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  pre- 
bend of  Firles  in  the  cathedral  of  Chichester,  June  27,  and 
on  July  2   to  that  of  Chamberlaynward  in  St.  Paul's,  and 
March  9  following,  he  was  installed  archdeacon  of  Lewes. 
He  seems  to  have  been  chaplain  to  Grindall,  when  arch- 
bishop of  York.     He  was  a  tolerable  Latin  poet,  and  trans- 
lated the   Ecclesiastes  into  Latin  hexameters,    1572,  4to, 
and  published  two  miscellanies   of  Latin  poetry,  the  one 
entitled   "  Sylva,"  and  the  other  "  Poemata  varia  et  ex- 
terna,"  the   last  printed   at   Paris.      In   the   "  Sylva,"   he 
mentions  his  new  version  of  David's  psalms,  which  Wartou 
supposes  to  have  been  in  English,  and  says,  he  had  begun 
to  translate   the  Iliad,  but  had  gone  no  further  than   the 
fourth  book.     In   1566   he  published  what  he  called  "  A 
medicinable  Morall,  that  is,  the  txvo  bookes  of  Horace  his 
satyres    Englished,  according   to    the    prescription    of   St. 
Hierome,"  &c.  Lond.  and  in  the  following  year  appeared 
"  Horace,  his  arte  of  Poetrie,  Pistles,  and  Satyrs  Englished." 
This  version,  which  Drant  undertook  in  the  character  of  a 
grave  divine,  and  as  a  teacher  of  morality,  is  very  para- 
phrastic, and  sometimes  parodical.     His  other  publications 
are,   1.   "  Gregory  Nazianzen   his   Epigrams  and  spiritual 
sentences,"    1568,   8vo.     2.   "  Shaklocki,  epigrammatis  in 
mortem    Cuthberti    Scoti,    apomaxis,"   Lond.    1565,  4 to ; 
•which  occurs  in  Herbert's  Antiquities  under  the  title  "  An 
Epygrame  of  the  death  of  Cuthberte  Skotte  some  tyme 
beshoppe  of  Chester,  by  Roger  Shacklocke,  and  replyed 
against  by  Thomas  Drant."     3.  "  Thomae  Drantae  Angli, 
Advordingamiae  Praesul,"   1575,  4to.     These  two  last   are 
in   the   British  Museum.     4.   "  Three  godly   and   learned 
Sermons,  very  necessary  to  be  read  and   regarded  of  all 
men,"    1584,  8vo.     Extracts  from  these  are  given  in  the 
Bibliographer.     The  time  of  his   death  is  no  where  men- 
tioned, but  as  the  archdeaconry  of  Lewes  was  vacant  in 
157.S,  it  might  have  been  in  consequence  of  that  event. ' 

DRAPER  (Sm  WILLIAM),  lieutenant-general  and  K.  B. 
was  educated  at  Eton,  and  at  King's  college,  Cambridge; 

1  Tanner. — Phillips'*  Theatrum. — Warton's  Hist,  of  Poetry. — Bibliographer, 
Ne.  13,  p.  173. — MS.  in  Lambeth  library,  No.  805. 


DRAPER.  317 

and,  preferring  the  military  profession,  went  to  the  East- 
Indies  in  the  company's  service;  where,  in  1760,  he  re- 
ceived the  privilege  of  ranking  as  a  colonel  in  the  army, 
with  Lawrence  and  Clive,  and  returned  home  that  year. 
In  1761  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  in  the 
expedition  to  Belleisle.  In  1763,  he,  with  admiral  Cor- 
nish, conducted  the  expedition  against  Manila.  They 
sailed  from  Madras  Aug.  1,  and  anchored  Sept.  27,  in 
Manila  bay,  where  the  inhabitants  had  no  expectation  of 
the  enemy.  The  fort  surrendered  Oct.  6,  and  was  pre- 
served from  plunder  by  a  ransom  of  four  millions  of  dollars  ; 
half  to  be  paid  immediately,  and  the  other  half  in  a  time 
agreed  on.  The  Spanish  governor  drew  on  his  court  for 
the  first  half,  but  payment  was  never  made.  The  argu- 
ments of  the  Spanish  court  were  clearly  refuted  by  colonel 
Draper  in  a  letter  to  the  earl  of  Halifax,  then  premier. 
Succeeding  administrations  declined  the  prosecution  of 
this  claim  from  reasons  of  state  which  were  never  divulged  ; 
and  the  commander  in  chief  lost  for  his  share  of  the  ran- 
som 25,000/.  The  colours  taken  at  this  conquest  were 
presented  to  King's  college,  Cambridge,  and  hung  up  in 
their  beautiful  chapel,  and  the  conqueror  was  rewarded 
with  a  red  ribband.  Upon  the  reduction  of  the  79th  regi- 
ment, which  had  served  so  gloriously  in  the  East-Indies, 
his  majesty,  unsolicited  by  him,  gave  him  the  16th  regi- 
ment of  foot  as  an  equivalent.  This  he  resigned  to  colonel 
Gisborne,  for  his  half  pay,  1200/.  Irish  annuity.  In  1769 
the  colonel  appeared,  and  with  much  credit,  in  a  literacy 
character,  drawing  his  pen  against  that  of  JUNIUS,  in  de- 
fence of  his  friend  the  marquis  of  Granby,  which  drew  a 
retort  on  himself,  answered  by  him  in  a  second  letter  to 
Junius,  on  the  refutations  of  the  former  charge  against 
him.  On  a  republication  of  Junius's  first  letter,  sir  Wil- 
liam renewed  his  vindication  of  himself;  and  was  answered 
with  great  keenness  by  his  famous  antagonist.  Here  the 
controversy  dropped  for  the  present,  but  he  is  supposed  to 
have  entered  the  lists  once  more,  under  the  signature  of 

'  O 

Modestus,  with  that  extraordinary  and  still  concealed 
writer,  in  defence  of  general  Gansel,  who  had  been  ar- 
rested for  debt,  and  was  rescued  by  a  party  of  soldiers.  In 
Oct.  1769  he  retired  to  South  Carolina,  for  the  recovery 
of  his  health,  and  took  the  opportunity  to  make  the  tour 
of  North  America.  That  year  he  married  miss  de  Lancy, 
daughter  of  the  chief  justice  of  New  York,  who  died  in 


31*  DRAPE  R. 

July  1778,  and  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  born  Aug.  18, 
1773.  May  29,  1779,  sir  William,  being  then  in  rank  a 
lieutenant-general,  was  appointed  lieutenant-governor  of 
Minorca,  on  the  unfortunate  surrender  of  which  important 
place  he  exhibited  29  charges  against  the  late  governor, 
general  Murray,  Nov.  1 1,  1782.  Of  these  27  were  deemed 
frivolous  and  groundless ;  and  for  the  other  two  the  gover- 
nor was  reprimanded.  Sir  William  was  then  ordered  to 
make  an  apology  to  general  Murray,  for  having  instituted 
the  trial  against  him;  in  which  he  acquiesced.  From  this 
time  he  appears  to  have  lived  in  retirement  at  Bath  till  his 
decease,  which  happened  the  8th  of  January  1787.  Many 
particulars  respecting  his  controversy  with  Junius,  as  well 
as  the  controversy  itself,  may  be  seen  in  the  splendid  edition 
of  "  Junius's  Letters,'\published  by  Mr.  Woodfall  in  1812.1 

DRAUDIUS  (GEORGE),  a  German  author,  was  born  in 
1573,  and  died  in  1630.  He  compiled  a  work  entitled 
"  Bibliotheca  Classica,"  of  which  the  best  edition  is  that 
in  two  volumes  4to,  Frankfort,  1625  ;  in  which  are  in- 
serted the  titles  of  all  kinds  of  books.  It  is,  however, 
merely  a  crowded  catalogue  of  all  the  works  which  had  ap- 
peared at  the  Francfort  fairs ;  but  although  they  are  not 
well  arranged,  or  very  easily  found,  and  the  errors  are  in- 
numerable, it  is,  upon  the  whole,  a  very  useful  catalogue, 
particularly  for  German  books,  and  musical  publications.2 

DRAYTON  (MICHAEL),  an  English  poet,  was  born  at 
Harshull,  in  the  parish  of  Atherston,  in  the  county  of 
Warwick,  in  1563.  His  family  was  ancient,  and  originally 
descended  from  the  town  of  Drayton  in  Leicestershire, 
which  gave  name  to  his  progenitors,  as  a  learned  antiquary 
of  his  acquaintance  has  recorded ;  but  his  parents  remov- 
ing into  Warwickshire,  our  poet  was  born  there.  When 
he  was  but  ten  years  of  age,  he  seems  to  have  been  page 
to  some  person  of  honour,  as  we  collect  from  his  own 
words  :  and,  for  his  learning  at  that  time,  it  appears  evi- 
dently in  the  same  place,  that  he  could  then  construe  his 
Cato,  and  some  other  little  collection  of  sentences.  It  ap- 
pears too,  that  he  was  then  anxious  to  know,  "  what  kind 
of  strange  creatures  poets  were  r"  and  desired  his  tutor  of 
all  things,  that  if  possible  "  he  would  make  him  a  poet." 
He  was  some  time  a  student  in  the  university  of  Oxford  : 
though  we  do  not  find  that  he  took  any  degree  there. 

1  Woodfall's  Juniws,  vol.  I.  p.  69,  &c. — Harwood's  Alumni  E'onenses. 

2  Diet.  Hist. — Moren. — Saxii  Onomast. — Baillet  Jugeineiis. 


D  R  A  Y  T  O  N. 

In   1588,  he  seems,  from  his  own  description   of  the 
Spanish  invasion,  to  have  been  a  spectator  at  Dover  of  its 
defeat ;  and  might  possibly  be  engaged  in  some  military 
post  or  employment  there,  as  we  find  mention  of  his  being 
well  spoken  of  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  army.     He  took 
delight  very  early,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  study  of  poetry; 
and  was  eminent  for  his  poetical  efforts,  nine  or  ten  years 
before  the  death  of  queen  Elizabeth,  if  not  sooaer.     In 
1593    he   published  a  collection   of  pastorals,   under  the 
title  of  "  Idea  :  the  Shepherd's  Garland,  fashioned  in  nine 
eclogues;  with  Rowland's  sacrifice  to  the  nine   Muses,'* 
4to,  dedicated  to  Mr.  Robert  Dudley.     This  "  Shepherd's 
Garland"  is  the  same  with  what  was  afterwards  reprinted 
with  emendations  by  our  author  in  1619,  folio,  under  the 
title  of  "  Pastorals,"  containing  eclogues  ;  with  the  "  Man 
in  the  Moon  ;"  but  the  folio  edition  of  Drayton's  works, 
printed  in  1748,  though   the  title-page  professes  to  give 
them  all,  does  not  contain  this  part  of  them.     Soon  after 
he  published  his  "  Barons'  Wars,"  and  "  England's  heroi- 
cal   Epistles;"  his  "Downfalls  of  Robert  of  Normandy, 
Matilda  and    Gaveston ;"    which   were   all   written    before 
1598;  and   caused   him   to   be   highly  celebrated   at  that 
time,  when  he  was  distinguished  not  only  as  a  great  genius, 
but  as  a  good  man.     He  was  exceedingly  esteemed  by  his 
contemporaries;    and  Burton,  the  antiquary  of  Leicester- 
shire, after  calling  him  his  "  near  countryman  and  old  ac- 
quaintance," adds   further  of  him,  that,    "  though    those 
transalpines  account  us  tramontani,  rude,  and  barbarous, 
holding  our  brains  so  frozen,   dull,  and  barren,  that  they 
can  afford  no  inventions  or  conceits,  yet  may  he  compare 
either  with  their  old  Dante,    Petrarch,    or  Boccace,    or 
their  neoteric    Marinella,    Pignatello,    or   Stigliano.     But 
why,"  says  Burton,   "  sould  I  go  about  to  commend  him, 
whom  his  own  works  and  worthiness  have  sufficiently  ex- 
tolled to  the  world  r" 

Drayton  was  one  of  the  foremost  of  Apollo's  train,  who 
welcomed  James  I.  to  his  British  dominions,  with  a  con- 
gratulatory poem,  &c.  1603,  4to  ;  and  how  this  very  poem, 
through  strange  ill  luck,  might  have  proved  his  ruin,  but 
for  his  patient  and  prudent  conduct  under  the  indignity, 
he  has,  with  as  much  freedom  as  was  then  convenient,  in- 
formed us  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Poly-Olbion,"  and  in 
his  epistle  to  Mr.  George  Sandys  among  his  elegies.  It  is 
probable,  that  the  unwelcome  reception  it  met  with  might 


320  D  R  A  Y  T  O  N. 

deter  him  from  attempting  to  raise  himself  at  court.  In 
1613  he  published  the  first  part  of  his  "  Poly-Olbion ;" 
by  which  Greek  tide,  signifying  very  happy,  he  denotes 
England  ;  as  the  ancient  name  of  Albion  is  by  some  de- 
rived from  Olbion,  happy.  It  is  a  chorographical  descrip- 
tion of  the  rivers,  mountains,  forests,  castles,  &c.  in  this 
island,  intermixed  with  the  remarkable  antiquities,  rarities, 
and  commodities  thereof.  The  first  part  is  dedicated  to 
prince  Henry,  by  whose  encouragement  it  was  written  :  and 
there  is  an  engraving  at  full  length  of  that  prince,  in  a 
military  posture,  exercising  his  pike.  He  had  shewed 
Dravton  some  singular  marks  of  his  favour,  and  seems  to 

fc  O  ' 

have  admitted  him  as  one  of  his  poetical  pensioners;  but 
dying  before  the  book  was  published,  our  poet  lost  the 
benefit  of  his  patronage.  There  are  1 S  songs  in  this  vo- 
lume, illustrated  with  the  learned  notes  of  Selden ;  and 
there  are  maps  before  every  song,  in  which  the  cities, 
mountains,  forests,  rivers,  &c.  are  represented  by  the 
figures  of  men  and  women.  His  metre  of  12  syllables 
being  now  antiquated,  it  is  quoted  more  for  the  history 
than  the  poetry  in  it;  and  in  that  respect  is  so  very  exact, 
that,  as  Nicolson  observes,  and  since,  Mr.  Gough,  Dray- 
ton's  Poly-Olbion  affords  a  much  truer  account  of  this 
kingdom,  and  the  dominion  of  Wales,  than  could  well  be 
expected  from  the  pen  of  a  poet.  It  is  interwoven  with 
many  fine  episodes:  of  the  conquest  of  this  island  by  the 
Romans  ;  of  the  coming  of  the  Saxons,  the  Danes,  and 
the  Normans,  with  an  account  of  their  kings  ;  of  English 
warriors,  navigators,  saints,  and  of  the  civil  wars  of  Eng- 
land, &c.  This  volume  was  reprinted  in  1622,  with  the 
second  part,  or  continuation  of  12  songs  more,  making  30 
in  the  whole,  and  dedicated  to  prince  Charles,  to  whom 
he  gives  hopes  of  bestowing  the  like  pains  upon  Scotland. 

In  1626  we  find  him  styled  poet  laureat,  in  a  copy  of 
his  own  verses  written  in  commendation  of  Abraham  Hol- 
land, and  prefixed  to  the  posthumous  poems  of  that  au- 
thor. It  is  probable,  that  the  appellation  of  poet  laureat 
was  not  formerly  confined  so  strictly,  as  it  is  now,  to  the 
person  on  whom  this  title  is  conferred  by  the  crown,  who 
is  presumed  to  have  been  at  that  time  Ben  Jonson  ;  be- 
cause we  find  it  given  to  others  only  as  a  distinction  of 
their  excellency  in  the  art  of  poetry;  to  Mr.  George 
Sandys  particularly,  who  was  our  author's  friend.  The 
print  of  Dray  ton,  before  the  first  volume  of  his  works  in 


D  R  A  Y  T  O  N.  321 

folio,  has  a  wreath  of  bays  above  his  head,  and  so  has  his 
bust  in  Westminster-abbey ;  yet  when  we  find  that  the' 
portraits  of  Joshua  Sylvester,  John  Owen,  and  others,  who 
never  had  any  grant  of  the  laureat's  place,  are  as  formally 
crowned  with  laurel  as  those  who  really  possessed  it,  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  that  nothing  more  was  meant  by  it, 
than  merely  a  compliment*.  Besides,  as  to  Drayton,  he 
tells  us  himself,  in  his  dedication  to  sir  William  Aston  of 
"  The  Owl,"  that  he  leaves  the  iaurel  to  those  who  may 
look  after  it.  In  1627  was  published  the  second  volume  of 
his  poems,  containing  his  "  Battle  of  Agincourt,  Miseries 
of  queen  Margaret,  Court  of  Fairies,  Quest  of  Cynthia, 
Shepherd's  Syrena,  elegies,  also,  the  Moon-Calf,"  which 
is  a  strong  satire  upon  tne  masculine  affe< •:  women, 

and  the  effeminate  disguises  of  tne  men,  in  th        til 
The  elegies  are  12  in  number,   though  there  are  i 
reprinted  in  the  edition  of  1748.     In  1630  he  published 
another  volume  of  poems   in   4 to,  entitled,  the  "  Muses' 
El^-zium :"    with    three   divine    poems,   on    Noah's    flood, 
Moses's  birth  and  miracles,  and  David  and  Goliath.     Dray- 
tori  died  in  1631,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster-abbey 
amongst  the  poets. 

The  learned  and  elegant  editor  of  Phillips's  "  Thea- 
trum"  appears  to  have  appreciated  the  poetry  of  Drayton 
at  its  full  value,  when  at  the  same  time  that  he  thinks  his 
taste  less  correct,  and  his  ear  less  harmonious  than  Daniel's, 
he  asserts,  that  "  his  genius  was  more  poetical,  though  it 
seeuis  to  have  fitted  him  only  for  the  didactic,  and  not  for 
the  bolder  walks  of  poetry.  The  *  Poly-Olbion'  is  a 
work  of  amazing  ingenuity ;  and  a  very  large  proportion 
exhibits  a  variety  of  beauties,  which  partake  very  strongly 
of  the  poetical  character ;  but  the  perpetual  personification 
is  tedious,  and  more  is  attempted  than  is  within  the  com- 
pass of  poetry.  The  admiration  in  which  the  *  Heroical 
Epistles'  were  once  held,  raises  the  astonishment  of  a 
more  refined  age.  They  exhibit  some  elegant  images, 
and  some  musical  lines.  But  in  general  they  want  passion 
and  nature,  are  strangely  flat  and  prosaic,  and  are  inter- 
mixed with  the  coarsest  vulgarities  of  ideas,  sentiment,  and 
expression.  His  *  Barons'  Wars,'  and  other  historical 
pieces  are  dull  creeping  narratives,  with  a  great  deal  of 

*  This  mat.ter  is  more  fully  explained  by  Mr.  Malone  in  his  Life  of  Dryden, 
vol.  I.  p.  78,  '205, 

VOL.  XII,  Y 


322  D  R  A  Y  T  O  N. 

ihe  same  faults,  and'none  of  the  excellencies  which  ought 
to   distinguish   such  compositions.      His    '  Nymphidia'   is 
light  and  airy,  and  possesses  tiie  features  of  true  poetry."  ] 
DREBEL  (CouNELius),  philosopher  and  alchymist,  who 
was  born  in   1572,  at  Alemaer,  in   Holland,  and   died  at 
London,   in    1634    at  the  age   of  sixty-two,    possessed    a 
singular  aptitude  in  the  invention   of  machines  ;  although 
we  cannot  give  credit  to  all  that  is  related  of  the  sagacity 
of  this  philosopher.     We   are   told  that  he   made  certain 
machines    which    produced  rain,    hail,    and   lightning,  as 
naturally  as  if  these  effects  proceeded  from  the  sky.     By 
other  machines  he  produced  a  degree  of  cold  equal  to  that 
of  winter  ;  of  which  he  made  an  experiment,  as  it  is  pre- 
tended, in  Westminster-hall,  at  the  instance  of  the  king 
of  England  ;  and  that  the  cold  was  so  great  as  to  be  in- 
supportable.    He  constructed  a  glass,  which  attracted  the 
light  of  a  candle  placed  at  the  other  end  of  the  hall,  and 
which  gave  light   sufficient  for  reading  by   it  with  great 
ease.     Drebel  has  left  some  philosophical  works  ;  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  is  entitled  :   "  De  natura  elementorum," 
Hamburgh,   1621,  8vo.     It  is  also  pretended  that  he  was 
the  first  who  invented  the  art  of  dying  scarlet ;  the  secret 
of  which  he  imparted  to  his  daughter ;  and  Cuffler,  who 
married  her,  practised  the  art  at  Leyden.     Some  authors 
give  to  Drebel  the  honour  of  the  invention  of  the  tele- 
scope.    It  is  generally  thought  that  he  invented  the  two 
useful  instruments,  the  microscope  and  the  thermometer, 
the  former  of  which  was  for  some  time  only  known  in  Ger- 
many.    It  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  1621,  and  Fontana 
unjustly  ascribed  to  himself  the  invention  about  thirty  years 
afterwards.2 

DRELINCOURT  (CHARLES),  minister  of  the  Calvinist 
church  of  Paris,  was  born  July  1595,  at  Sedan  ;  where 
his  father  had  a  considerable  post.  He  passed  through 
the  study  of  polite  literature  and  divinity  at  Sedan,  but 
was  sent  to  Saumur,  to  go  through  a  course  of  philosophy 
there  under  professor  Duncan.  He  was  admitted  minister 
m  1618,  and  discharged  his  function  near  Langres,  till  he 
was  called  by  the  church  of  Paris  in  1620.  He  had  all  the 
qualifications  requisite  to  a  great  minister.  His  sermons 

1   Biog.  Brit. — Johnson  and  Chalmers's  English  Poets,   1810. — Warton's  Hist. 

. — Censura  Literaria. — Headley's  Beauties,  &c.  Sec. 
-  Diet,  Hist. — Moreri. — Foppeu  Bibl.  Belg. 


D  R  E  L  I  N  C  O  U  R  T.  323 

were  very  edifying;  he  was  assiduous  and  successful  in 
comforting  the  sick  ;  and  he  managed  the  atTairs  of  the 
'.-.iuirch  with  such  skill,  that  he  never  failed  of  being  con- 
sulted upon  every  important  occasion.  His  first  essay 
was  a  "Treatise  of  Preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper." 
This,  and  his  "  Catechism,"  the  "  Short  View  of  Contro- 
versies," and  "  Consolations  against  the  fears  of  Death," 
have,  of  all  his  works,  been  the  most  frequently  reprinted. 
Some  of  them,  his  book  upon  death  in  particular,  have 
passed  through  above  forty  editions  ;  and  have  been  trans- 
lated into  several  languages,  as  German,  Dutch,  Italian, 
and  English.  His  "  Charitable  Visits,"  in  5  volumes,  have 
served  for  a  continual  consolation  to  private  persons,  and 
for  a  source  of  materials  and  models  to  ministers.  He 
published  three  volumes  of  sermons,  in  which,  as  in  all 
the  forementioned  pieces,  there  is  a  vein  of  piety  very 
affecting  to  religious  minds.  His  controversial  works  are  : 
1.  "  The  Jubilee  ;"  2.  "  The  Roman  Combat ;"  3.  "  The 
Jesuit's  Owl ;"  4.  "  An  Answer  to  father  Coussin  ;"  5. 
"  Disputes  with  the  bishop  of  Bellai,  concerning  the  ho- 
nour due  to  the  Holy  Virgin  ;"  6.  "  An  answer  to  La  Mil- 
letierre ;"  7.  "  Dialogues,  against  the  Missionaries,"  in 
several  volumes  ;  8.  "  The  False  Pastor  Convicted,"  9. 
;'The  False  Face  of  Antiquity;"  10.  "The  Pretended 
Nullities  of  the  Reformation  ;"  11.  "  An  Answer  to  prince 
Ernest  of  Hesse  ;"  12.  "  An  Answer  to  the  speech  of  the 
clergy  spoken  by  the  archbishop  of  Sens;"  13.  "A  De- 
fence of  Calvin."  He  wrote  some  letters,  which  have  been 
printed  ;  one  to  the  duchess  of  Tremouille,  upon  her  hus- 
band's departure  from  the  protestant  religion  ;  one  of  con- 
solation, addressed  to  Madam  de  la  Tabariere  ;  one  upon 
•the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  king  of  Great  Britain;  some 
upon  the  English  episcopacy,  &c.  He  published  also  cer- 
tain prayers,  some  of  which  were  made  for  the  king,  others 
for  the  queen,  and  others  for  the  dauphin.  Bayle  tells  us, 
that  what  he  wrote  against  the  church  of  Rome,  confirmed 
the  protestants  more  than  can  be  expressed  ;  for  with  the 
arms  with  which  he  furnished  them,  such  as  wanted  the 
advantage  of  learning,  were  enabled  to  oppose  the  monks 
and  parish  priests,  and  to  contend  with  the  missionaries. 
His  writings  made  him  considered  as  the  scourge  of  the 
papists;  yet,  like  mons.  Claude,  he  was  much  esteemed, 
and  even  beloved  by  them.  For  it  was  well  known  that  he 
had  an  easy  access  to  the  secretaries  of  state,  the  first  pre- 

Y  2 


324  DRELINCOURT. 

sident,  the  king's  advocate,  and  the  civil  lieutenant ;  though 
he  never  made  any  other  use  of  his  interest  with  them  than 
to  assist  the  afflicted  churches.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
by  the  great  persons  of  his  own  religion  ;  by  the  duke  de 
la  Force,  the  marshals  Chatillon,  Gascon,  Turenne,  and 
by  the  duchess  of  Tremouille.  They  sent  for  him  to  their 
palaces,  and  honoured  him  from  time  to  time  with  their 
visits.  Foreign  princes  and  noblemen,  the  ambassadors 
of  England  and  France,  did  the  same  ;  and  he  was  particu- 
larly esteemed  by  the  house  of  Hesse,  as  appears  from  the 
books  he  dedicated  to  the  princes  and  princesses  of  that 
name.  He  died  Nov.  3,  1669. 

He  married  in  1625,  the  only  daughter  of  a  rich  mer- 
chant of  Paris,  by  whom  he  had  sixteen  children.  The 
first  seven  were  sons ;  the  rest  intermixed,  six  sons  and 
three  daughters.  LAURENCE,  the  eldest  of  all,  was  at  first 
minister  at  Rochelle  ;  but  being  obliged  to  leave  that 
church  by  an  edict,  he  went  to  Niort,  where  he  died  in 
1680,  having  lost  his  sight  about  six  months  before.  He 
was  a  very  learned  man,  and  a  good  preacher.  He  left 
several  fine  sermons,  and  likewise  a  collection  of  Christian 
sonnets,  which  are  extremely ,  elegant,  and  highly  es- 
teemed by  those  who  have  a  taste  for  sacred  poetry.  They 
had  gone  through  six  editions  in  1693.  Henry,  the  se- 
cond son,  was  also  a  minister,  and  published  sermons. 
The  third  son  was  the  famous  Charles  Drelincourt,  profes- 
sor of  physic  at  Leyden,  to  whom  we  shall  devote  a  sepa- 
rate article.  Anthony,  a  fourth  son,  was  a  physician  at 
Orbes,  in  Switzerland ;  and  afterwards  appointed  physician 
extraordinary  by  the  magistrates  of  Berlin.  A  fifth  son 
died  at  Geneva,  while  he  was  studying  divinity  there. 
Peter  Drelincourt,  a  sixth,  was  a  priest  of  the  church  of 
England,  and  dean  of  Armagh. 

All  his  other  children  died,  either  in  their  infancy,  or 
in  the  flower  of  their  youth,  except  a  daughter,  married 
to  mons.  Malnoc,  advocate  of  the  parliament  of  Paris  ;  and 
who  instead  of  following  him  into  Holland,  whither  he  re- 
tired with  his  protestantism  at  the  time  of  the  dragoonade, 
continued  at  Paris,  where  she  openly  professed  the  Roman 
catholic  religion.1 

DRELINCOURT  (CHARLES),  the  third  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding, was  born  at  Paris  in  1633,  and  after  studying 

'  Gen.  Diet.— Moreri.-— Diet.  Hist, 


D  R  E  L  I  N  C  O  U  R  T.  325 

some  years  at  Saumur,  lie  went  to  Montpellier,  where  he 
completed  his  medical  course,  and  took  his  doctor's  de- 
gree. He  afterwards  attended  the  marshal  Turenne  in 
his  campaigns,  and  was  by  him  appointed  physician  to  the 
army.  The  skill  and  ability  he  had  shewn  in  this  situation, 
occasioned  his  being  nominated  to  succeed  Vander  Linden, 
in  168S,  as  professor  of  medicine  at  Leyden,  whither  he 
obtained  permission  to  go,  though  he  had  been  made,  se- 
veral years  before,  one  of  the  physicians  to  Lewis  the 
Fourteenth.  Two  years  after,  he  was  advanced  to  the  chair 
of  anatomy  in  the  same  university.  He  was  also  made 
physician  to  William,  prince  of  Orange,  and  to  his  princess, 
Mary.  As  rector  of  the  university  of  Leyden,  he  spoke 
the  congratulatory  oration  to  the  prince  and  princess,  on 
their  accession  to  the  throne  of  England.  He  continued 
to  hold  his  professorships,  the  offices  of  which  he  filled 
so  as  to  give  universal  satisfaction,  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  happened  on  the  last  day  of  May,  1697. 
He  was  a  voluminous  and  learned  writer;  his  works,  which 
were  much  read  in  his  time,  and  passed  through  several 
editions,  were  collected  and  published  together  in  1671, 
and  again  in  1680,  in  4  vols.  12mo.  But  the  most  com- 
plete edition  of  them  is  that  published  at  the  Hague,  in 
1727,  in  4to.  In  one  of  his  orations  he  has  been  careful 
to  exculpate  professors  of  medicine  from  the  charge  of  im- 
piety, so  frequently  thrown  upon  them.  "  Oratio  Doc- 
toralis  Monspessula,  qufi  Medicos  Dei  operum  considera- 
tione  atque  contemplatione  permotos,  caeteris  hominibus 
Religioni  astrictiores  esse  demons tratur :  atque  adeo  im- 
pietatis  crimen  in  ipsos  jactatum  diluitur."  He  also,  in 
his  "  Apologia  Medica,"  refutes  the  idea  of  physicians 
having  been  banished  from,  and  not  allowed  to  settle  in 
Rome  for  the  space  of  six  hundred  years.  He  was  a  lover 
of  Greek  literature,  and  like  his  countryman,  Guy  Patin, 
an  enemy  to  the  introduction  of  chemical  preparations  into 
medicine,  which  were  much  used  in  his  time.  He  was 
also  a  strong  opponent  to  his  colleague  Sylvius  Bayle 
has  given  him  a  high  character.  As  a  man  he  describes 
him  benevolent,  friendly,  pious,  and  charitable ;  as  a 
scholar,  versed  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongues,  and  in  all 
polite  literature  in  as  high  a  degree  as  if  he  had  never  ap- 
plied himself  to  any  thing  else  ;  as  a  professor  of  physic, 
clear  and  exact  in  his  method  of  reading  lectures,  and  of 


326  D  R  E  L  I  N  C  O  U  R  T. 

a  skill  in  anatomy  universally  admired  ;  as  an  author,  one 
whose  writings  are  of  an  original  and  inimitable  cha- 
racier. l 

DRESSERUS  (MATTHEW),  a  learned  German,  was 
born  at  Erlbrt,  the  capital  of  Thuringia,  in  1536.  The 
first  academical  lectures  which  he  heard,  were  those  of 
Luther  and  Melancthon,  at  Wittemberg  ;  but  the  air  of 
that  country  not  agreeing  with  his  constitution,  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  Erfort,  where  he  studied  Greek. 
When  he  had  taken  the  degree  of  M.  A.  in  1559,  he  read 
lectures  in  rhetoric  at  home  ;  and  afterwards  taught  polite 
literature  and  the  Greek  tongue,  in  the  college  of  Erfort. 
Having  thus  passed  sixteen  years  in  his  own  country,  he 
was  invited  to  Jena,  to  supply  the  place  of  Lipsius,  as  pro- 
fessor of  history  and  eloquence.  He  pronounced  his  in- 
augural oration  in  1574,  which  was  afterwards  printed 
with  other  of  his  orations.  Some  time  after,  he  went  to 
Meissen,  to  be  head  of  the  college  there  ;  where  having 
continued  six  years,  he  obtained,  in  1581,  the  professor- 
ship of  polite  learning  in  the  university  of  Leipsic ;  and  a 
particular  pension  was  settled  on  him  to  continue  the  *'  His- 
tory of  Saxony."  Upon  his  coming  to  Leipsic,  he  found 
warm  disputes  among  the  doctors.  Some  endeavoured  to 
introduce  the  subtleties  of  Ramus,  rejecting  the  doctrine 
of  Aristotle,  while  others  opposed  it;  aad  some  were  de- 
sirous of  advancing  towards  Calvinism,  while  others  would 
suffer  no  innovations  in  Lutheranism.  Dresserus  desired 
to  avoid  both  extremes  ;  and  because  the  dispute  concern- 
ing the  novelties  of  Ramus  greatly  disturbed  the  philoso- 
phical community,  he  was  very  solicitous  to  keep  clear  of 
it.  But  the  electoral  commissary  diverted  him  from  this 
pacific  design  ;  and  it  happened  to  him,  as  it  happens  to 
many  persons  who  engage  late  in  disputes  of  this  kind,  that 
they  are  more  zealous  than  the  first  promoters  of  them. 
Ilamism  now  appeared  to  Dresserus  a  horrible  monster;  and 
he  became  the  most  zealous  opposer  of  it  that  over  was 
known  in  that  country. 

Dresserus  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  at  Leipsic, 
where  he  died,  in  1C07.  He  married  in  1565,  and  be- 
coming a  widower  in  1598,  he  married  again  two  years 
after.  He  was  a  man  of  great  industry,  and  not  easily 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Moreri, — Freheri  Theatrum — Niceron,  vol.  XV.— Reef's1  Cy- 
clopaed!  >. 


D  R  E  S  S  E  R  U  S.  327 

tired  with  application,  as  he  shewed  at  Effort ;  for  he 
brought  all  his  colleagues,  who,  except  one,  were  Roman 
catholics,  to  consent  that  the  confession  of  Augsburgh  and 
the  Hebrew  tongue  should  be  taught  in  the  university. 
He  was  the  author  of  several  works,  the  principal  of  which 
were,  "  Rhetoricae  libri  quatuor,"  1584,  8vo  ;  "  Tres  libri 
Progymnasmatum,  litteratune  Groecae,"  8vo ;  "  Isagoge 
Historica,"  Leipsic,  1587,  8vo,  not  an  accurate  work. 
"  De  festis  diebus  Christianorum,  Judaeorum  et  Ethni- 
coruin  liber,"  Leipsic,  1597,  8vo. ' 

DREUX  DU  RADIER  (JOHN  FRANCIS),  advocate,  born 
at  Chateauneuf,  in  Thimerais,  the  10th  of  May,  1714, 
was  for  some  time  of  the  magistracy  of  that  town.  Pre- 
ferring at  an  early  period  of  life  the  pursuits  of  literatuiv 
to  the  practice  of  the  bar,  he  quitted  his  station,  and  com- 
posed a  great  number  of  pieces  in  verse  and  prose.  His 
poetical  productions  are  very  indifferent,  but  several  of 
his  works  in  prose  are  curious.  The  principal  are  :  1.  "  Bib- 
liotheque  historique  &  politique  du  Poitou,"  1754,  5  vols. 
1 2tno,  containing  much  sound  and  judicious  criticism. 

2.  u  L  Europe  illustre,"  1755,  and  the  following  years.    It  is 
a  collection  of  portraits  of  illustrious  persons  by  Odieuvre  ; 
with  historical  notices  by  Du  Radier,  who  was  paid  at  the  rate 
of  a  crown  for  each,  and  several  of  them  are  very  interesting. 

3.  "  Tablettes  anecdotes  des  rois  de  France,   3  vols.  12mo. 
The  author  has  here  collected  the  remarkable  sayings,  the 
ingenious  sentiments,  and  the  witticisms  of  the  kings,  or 
attributed  to  the  kings,  of  France.     4.   "  Histoire*  anec- 
dotes des  reines  et  regentes  de  France,"  6  vols.    12mo. 
5.   "  Recreations  historiques,  critiques,  morales,   &  d'eru- 
dition,"  2  vols.  12mo.     6.  "  Vie  de  Witikind  le  Grand," 
1757,   12mo;    abridged  from   the  folio  of  Cruzius.      All 
these  works  shew  that  the  author  has  ransacked  every  scarce 
and   uncommon   book  for  his  materials  ;  but  his  style   is 
prolix,  negligent,   and  familiar  ;  there  is  a  want  of  method 
too,  in  the  distribution  of  the  facts,  as  well  as  of  grace  in  the 
narration.     Dreux  du  Radier  composed  also  several  briefs 
for  the  bar;    among   others,  for  John   Francis   Corneille. 
This  author  died  1st  March,    1780.     Though  he  was  much 

*  O 

given  to  sarcasm  in  his  writings,  especially  in  those  of  the 
latter  description,  yet  he  was  of  a  friendly  disposition, 
and  he  often  took  upon  him  with  pleasure  the  business  of 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Freheri  Theatrum. — Moreri. 


328  DREUX     DU     RADIER. 

searching  records,  archives,  and  papers  for  families,  or 
for  literary  men  who  wanted  the  assistance  of  his  pen  or  of 
his  erudition.1 

UREXELIUS  (JEREMIAH),  a  celebrated  Jesuit,  was'born 
at  Augsburgh  in  Germany,  in  1581,  2nd  after  a  classical 
education,  entered  the  society  of  the  Jesuits  in  1598.  He 
taught  rhetoric  for  some  time,  but  was  most  distinguished 
for  his  talents  as  a  preacher.  The  elector  of  Bavaria  was 
so  struck  with  his  manner,  that  he  appointed  him  his  chap- 
lain in  ordinary,  which  office  he  held  for  twenty-three 
years.  He  died  at  Munich  April  19,  1638.  Notwith- 
standing his  frequent  preaching,  and  a  weak  state  of 
health,  he. found  leisure  and  strength  to  write  a  great  many 
volumes  for  the  use  of  young  persons,  most  of  them  in  a 
familiar  and  attractive  style,  and  generally  ornamented 
with  very  beautiful  engravings  by  Raphael  Sadler  and 
others,  which  made  them  be  bought  up  by  collectors  with 
avidity.  Some  of  them  have  been  also  translated  into 
several  languages,  and  one  of  them,  his  "Considerations  on 
•nity,"  ha-  '  .-n  often  reprinted  in  this  country  from  a 
translation  i.  uie  by  S.  Dunster  in  1710.  The  whole  of 
Drexelius's  works  were  collected  in  2  vols.  folio,  Antwerp, 
164  Lyons,  1658.  Many  of  his  pieces  have  very 

whimsical  titles,  and  are  upon  whimsical  subjects.  In  one 
of  them,  entitled  "Orbis  Phaeton,  hoc  est,  de  universis 
vitiis  lingua-,1'  chapter  XLI.  in  which  he  treats  of  those 
who  employ  their  time  on  trifles,  he  enters  upon  a  calcu- 
lation to  resolve  in  how  many  ways  six  persons  invited  to 
dine  may  be  placed  at  table,  and  after  six  pages  of  com- 
binations, he  gives  720  as  the  result. 2 

DRIEDO  (JOHN),  in  low  Dutch  Dridoens,  was  born  at 
Turnhout  in  Brabant,  studied  at  Louvain,  and  took  there  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  in  August  1512.  Hadrian 
Florent,  who  was  afterwards  pope  Hadrian  VI.  performed 
the  ceremony  of  promoting  him  to  that  degree ;  and  hav- 
ing observed  that  his  scholar  had  applied  himself  too  much 
to  human  learning,  he  put  him  in  mind  of  the  distinction 
which  ought  to  be  made  between  the  mistress-science,  and 
those  which  are  her  hand-maids.  After  this  advice  Driedo 
directed  his  chief  application  to  the  study  of  divinity.  He 
became  professor  of  that  science  in  the  university  of  Lou- 
vain,  and  was  also  curate  of  St.  James,  and  canon  of  St. 

1  Diff.  Hi?t.  3  Alegambe. — Niceron,  vol.  XXII. 


D  R  I  E  D  O.  329 

Peter  in  that  city.  He  opposed  Lutlieranism  with  great 
vigour  j  but  if  we  judge  of  him  by  a  letter  of  Erasmus,  his 
zeal  was  moderate.  He  died  at  Louvain  in  1535,  though 
those  who  have  published  his  epitaph,  have  represented  it 
as  affirming  that  he  died  August  4,  1555.  His  works  were 
published  in  4  vols.  ito  and  folio,  by  Gravius,  at  Louvain. 
They  relate  to  the  disputes  between  the  Roman  catholics 
and  protestants  ;  and  the  principal  titles  are,  "  De  gratia  & 
libero  arbitrio  ;"  "  De  concordia  liberi  arbitrii  &  proedesti- 
nationis ;"  "De  captivitate  &.  redemptione  generis  hu- 
mani ;"  "  De  Jibertate  Christiana;"  "  De  Scripturis  &. 
dogmatibus  Ecclesiasticis."  1 

DRINKER  (EDWARD),  was  born  on  the  24th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1680,  in  a  small  cabin  near  the  present  corner  of 
Walnut  and  Second  Streets  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
His  parents  came  from  a  place  called  Beverly,  in  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  The  banks  of  the  Delaware,  on  which  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  now  stands,  were  inhabited,  at  the 
time  of  his  birth,  by  Indians,  and  a  few  Swedes  and  Hol- 
landers. He  often  talked  to  his  companions  of  picking 
wortleberries,  and  catching  rabbits,  on  spots  now  the  most 
populous  and  improved  of  the  city.  He  recollected  the 
second  time  William  Penn  came  to  Pennsylvania,  and  used 
to  point  to  the  place  where  the  cabin  stood,  in  which  he 
and  his  friends  that  accompanied  him  were  accommodated 
upon  their  arrival.  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  to 
Boston,  where  he  served  an  apprenticeship  to  a  cabinet- 
maker. In  the  year  1745  he  returned  to  Philadelphia 
with  his  family,  where  he  lived  till  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  was  four  times  married,  and  had  eighteen  children,  all 
of  whom  were  by  his  first  wife.  At  one  time  of  his  life  he 
sat  down  at  his  own  table  with  fourteen  children.  Not 
long  before  his  death  he  heard  of  the  birth  of  a  grand-child 
to  one  of  his  grand-children,  the  fifth  in  succession  from 
JI:T..  •  !f. 

fie  retained  all  his  faculties  till  the  last  years  of  his  life  ; 
even  his  memory,  so  early  and  so  generally  diminished  by 
age,  was  but  little  impaired.  He  not  only  remembered 
th  >  incidents  of  his  childhood  or  youth,  but  the  events  of 
lau  r  yet.rs  •  and  so  faithful  was  his  memory  to  him,  that 
his  son  has  often  said,  that  he  never  heard  him  tell  the 

1  Gent.  Diet. — Moreri.— Foppen  Bibl.    Belg. — Dupin. — Jortin's  Erasmus.  — 
Fieheii  Theatiuin. 


330  DRINKER. 

same  story  twice,  but  to  different  persons,  and  in  different 
companies.  His  eye-sight  failed  him  many  years  before 
his  death,  but  his  hearing  was  uniformly  perfect  and  un- 
impaired. His  appetite  was  good  till  within  a  few  weeks 
before  his  death.  He  generally  ate  a  hfarty  breakfast  of  a 
pint  of  tea  or  coffee,  as  soon  as  he  got  out  of  his  bed,  with 
bread  and  butter  in  proportion.  He  ate  likewise  at  eleven 
o'clock,  and  never  failed  to  eat  plentifully  at  dinner  of  the 
grossest  solid  food.  He  drank  tea  in  the  evening,  but 
never  ate  any  supper.  He  had  lost  all  his  teeth  thirty 
years  before  his  death  (his  son  says,  by  drawing  excessive 
hot  smoke  of  tobacco  into  his  mouth)  ;  but  the  want  of 
suitable  mastication  of  his  food  did  not  prevent  its  speedy 
digestion,  nor  impair  his  health.  Whether  the  gums, 
hardened  by  age,  supplied  the  place  of  his  teeth  in  a  cer- 
tain degree,  or  whether  the  juices  of  the  mouth  and  sto- 
mach became  so  much  more  acrid  by  time,  as  to  perform 
the  office  of  dissolving  the  food  more  speedily  and  more 
perfectly,  may  not  be  so  easily  ascertained  ;  but  it  is  ob- 
servable, that  old  people  are  more  subject  to  excessive 
eating  than  young  ones,  and  that  they  suffer  fewer  incon- 
veniences from  it.  He  was  inquisitive  after  news  in  the 
last  years  of  his  life  ;  his  education  did  not  lead  him  to 
increase  the  stock  of  his  ideas  in  any  other  way.  But  it  is 
a  fact  well  worth  attending  to,  that  old  age,  instead  of 
diminishing,  always  increases  the  desire  of  knowledge.  It 
must  afford  some  consolation  to  those  who  expect  to  be 
old,  to  discover,  that  the  infirmities  to  which  the  decays 
of  nature  expose  the  human  body,  are  rendered  more 
tolerable  by  the  enjoyments  that  are  to  be  derived  from  the 
appetite  for  sensual  and  intellectual  food. 

The  subject  of  this  article  was  remarkably  sober  and 
temperate.  Neither  hard  labour,  nor  company,  nor  the 
usual  afflictions  of  human  life,  nor  the  wastes  of  nature, 
ever  led  him  to  an  improper  or  excessive  use  of  strong 
drink.  For  the  last  twenty-five  years  of  his  life  he  drank 
twice  every  day  a  draught  of  toddy,  made  with  two  table- 
spoons-full of  spirit,  in  half  a  pint  of  water.  His  son,  a 
man  of  fifty-nine  years  of  age,  said  he  had  never  seen  him 
intoxicated.  The  time  and  manner  in  which  he  used 
spirituous  liquors,  perhaps,  contributed  to  lighten  the 
weight  of  his  years,  and  probably  to  prolong  his  life.  He 
enjoyed  an  uncommon  share  of  health,  insomuch  that  in 
the  course  of  his  long  life  he  was  never  confined  more 


DRINKER.  331 

than  three  days  to  his  bed.  He  often  declared  that  he  had 
no  idea  of  that  most  distressing-  pain  called  the  head-ach. 
His  sleep  was  interrupted  a  little  in  the  last  years  of  his 
life  with  a  defluxion  in  his  breast,  which  produced  what  is 
commonly  called  the  old  man's  cough. 

The  character  of  this  aged  citizen  was  not  summed  up 
in  his  negative  quality  of  temperance  :  he  was  a  man  of  a 
most  amiable  temper  ;  he  was  uniformly  cheerful  and  kind 
to  every  body;  his  religious  principles  were  as  steady  as 
his  morals  were  pure;  he  attended  public  worship  above 
thirty  years  in  the  rev.  Dr.  Sproat's  church,  and  died  in  a 
full  assurance  of  a  happy  immortality.  The  life  of  this 
man  is  marked  with  several  circumstances  which  perhaps 
have  seldom  occurred  in  the  life  of  an  individual ;  he  saw 
and  heard  more  of  those  events  which  are  measured  by 
time,  than  have  ever  been  seen  or  heard  by  any  man  since 
the  age  of  the  patriarchs  ;  he  saw  the  same  spot  of  earth  in 
the  course  of  his  life  covered  with  wood  and  bushes,  and 
the  receptacle  of  beasts  and  birds  of  prey,  afterwards  be- 
come the  seat  of  a  city,  not  only  the  first  in  wealth  .and 
arts  in  the  new,  but  rivalling  in  both  many  of  the  first  cities 
in  the  old  world.  He  saw  regular  streets  where  he  once 
pursued  a  hare  ;  he  saw  churches  rising  upon  morasses 
where  he  had  often  heard  the  croaking  of  frogs ;  he  saw 
wharfs  and  warehouses  where  he  had  often  seen  Indian 
savages  draw  fish  from  the  river  for  their  daily  subsistence ; 
and  he  saw  ships  of  every  size  and  use  in  those  streams 
where  he  had  been  used  to  see  nothing  but  Indian  canoes ; 
he  saw  a  stately  edifice  filled  with  legislators  on  the  same 
spot  probably  where  he  had  seen  an  Indian  council  fire  ; 
he  saw  the  first  treaty  ratified  between  the  newly-confe- 
derated powers  of  America  and  the  ancient  monarchy  of 
France,  with  all  the  formalities  of  parchment  and  seals,  on 
the  same  spot  probably  where  he  once  saw  William  Penn 
ratify  his  first  and  last  treaty  with  the  Indians  without  the 
formalities  of  pen,  ink,  or  paper;  he  saw  all  the  inter- 
mediate stages  through  which  a  people  pass  from  the  most 
simple  to  the  most  complicated  degrees  of  civilization  ;  he 
saw  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  empire  of  Great  Britain 
in  Pennsylvania. 

He  had  been  the  subject  of  seven  crowned  heads,  and 
afterwaH.s  died  a  citizen  of  the  newly-created  republic  of 
America ;  but  the  number  of  his  sovereigns,  and  his  long 
habits  of  submission  to  them,  did  not  extinguish  the  love 


332  D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D. 

of  republican  liberty.     He  died  Nov.  17,  1782,  aged  one 
h';iuireii  and  three. ' 

DRUMMOND  (GEORGE),  an  eminently  patriotic  and 
public-spirited  magistrate  of  Edinburgh,  vas  born  June 
27,  1687,  and  educated  in  that  city,  principally  with  a 
view  to  active  life,  in  which  he  very  soon  maue  a  distin- 
guished figure.  On  the  accession  of  queen  Anne,  when 
he  was  of  course  very  young,  he  assisted  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  parliament  ot  Scotland  to  settle  the  pub- 
lic accounts  of  the  kingdom.  Tn  1707  he  was  appointed 
accountant-general  of  the  excise,  and  assisted,  with  in- 
defatigable diligence,  in  putting  the  accounts  of  that  im- 
portant branch  of  the  revenue  into  the  same  form  and 
method  with  those  in  England.  In  1710,  the  then  total 
change  of  the  ministry  alarmed  the  friends  of  the  house  of 
Hanover,  and  these  alarms  increasing,  in  1713,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  gentlemen  who  had  formed  a  society  for  guarding 
the  country  against  the  designs  of  the  pretender,  Mr. 
Drummond  proposed  a  plan,  which  was  unanimously  ap- 
proved and  carried  into  execution,  by  which  a  corre- 
spondence was  established  with  every  county  in  the  king- 
dom, and  arms  imported  from  Holland,  and  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  friends  of  liberty  every  where.  In  1715,  he 
gave  the  first  notice  to  the  ministry  of  the  arrival  of 
the  earl  of  Mar,  was  honoured  with  the  command  of  a 
company  of  volunteers  that  was  raised  by  the  friends  of 
government  on  that  occasion,  and  was  attendant  on  the 
duke  of  Argyle,  during  his  residence  in  Scotland  till  the 
rebellion  was  extinguished.  He  assisted  at  the  battle  of 
Sheriffmuir,  and  dispatched  to  the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh 
the  earliest  notice  of  Argyle's  victory,  in  a  letter  which  he 
dated  from  the  field  on  horseback.  In  1717  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  corporation  of  Edinburgh,  and  discharged 
all  the  intermediate  offices  of  magistracy  until  1725,  when 
he  was  elected  lord  provost,  an  office  which  he  filled  with 
the  highest  reputation  and  true  dignity.  To  his  indefa- 
tigable industry  and  perseverance  it  was  chiefly  owing, 
that  the  several  professorships  in  the  university  were  filled 
with  men  of  the  first  abilities,  and  several  new  ones  were 
founded,  as  that  of  chemistry,  the  theory  and  practice  of 
physic,  midwifery,  the  belles  lettres,  and  rhetoric,  by 

1  From  the  last  editi«n  of  this  Dictionary.  We  have  been  unwilling  to  dis- 
miss it,  although  its  claims  are  net  great.  It  may  serve  as  a  companion  to  the 
article  of  Cornaro. 


D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D.  333 

which  means  Edinburgh  arrived  at  the  rank  of  one  of  the 
first  schools  in  the  kingdom,   particularly  for  medicine. 

In  October  17  '7  he  was  promoted  to  be  one  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  excise,  an  office  which  he  retained 
during  the  remainder  of  his  lite.  In  July  1727  he  had 
been  named  one  of  the  commissioners  and  trustees  for  im- 
proving fisheries  and  manufactures  in  Scotland,  and,  as 
connected  with  the  city  of  Edinhurgh,  he  now  became  the 
principal  agent  in  the  patriotic  institution  of  a  public  in- 
firmary. By  his  exertions,  accordingly,  a  charter  was  pro- 
cured in  August  1736,  and  the  foundation-stone  of  the 
present  building  was  laid  on  Aug.  2,  '738,  and  the  edifice 
completed  at  the  expence  of  13,000/.  a  great  part  of  which 
was  subscribed  by  opulent  individuals  in  consequence  of 
his  active  solicitation. 

In  1  745,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  second  rebellion, 
he  exerted  himself  with  his  usual  spirit  and  loyalty,  in 
raising  several  companies  of  volunteers  ;  and  in  endeavour- 
ing, though  without  success,  to  keep  the  rebels  out  of  the 
city  ;  and  when  that  could  not  be  accomplished,  he  joined 
sir  John  Cope  at  Dunbar,  and  was  present  at  the  unfortu- 
nate battle  of  Preston-pans,  in  which  the  king's  troops 
were  defeated.  After  this  action,  he  attended  sir  John 
Cope  to  Berwick,  and  remained  with  him  during  his  stay 
there,  procuring  from  time  to  time,  from  Edinburgh,  in- 
telligence of  the  motions  of  the  rebels,  which  was  commu- 
nicated to  the  secretaries  of  state.  The  city  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  rebels  at  the  usual  time  of  their  annual  elec- 
tion of  magistrates  this  year.  But  when  his  majesty  issued 
his  royal  warrant  for  a  post  election,  Mr.  Drummond  was 
again  chosen  lord  provost,  which  office  he  discharged  so 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  fellow-citizens,  that  he  was 
afterwards  four  times  re-elected,  which  is  as  often  as  the 
constitution  of  the  city  permits.  Peace  being  restored,  he 
began  his  farther  improvements,  by  laying  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  Exchange  in  1753;  and  in  October  1763, 
during  his  sixth  provostship,  he  laid  the  first  stone  of  the 
north  bridge,  which  connects  the  new  town  of  Edinburgh 
with  the  old.  Mr  Driunmond,  after  a  life  thus  spent  in 
eminent  public  services,  died  Nov.  4,  1766.  * 

DRUMMOND  (ROBERT  HAY),  an  English  prelate,  was 
the  second  son  of  George  Henry,  seventh  earl  of  Kinnoul, 

1   Gent.  Mag.  vol.  XXXVI.— Start's  Diog.  Scotica. 


334  D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D. 

and  Abigail,  youngest  daughter  of  Robert  Harley,  earl  of 
Oxford  and  Mortimer,  lord  high  treasurer  of  Great  Bri- 
tain. He  was  born  in  London,  Nov.  10,  1711,  and  after 
being  educated  at  Westminster  school,  was  admitted  stu- 
dent of  Christ  church,  Oxford,  where  he  prosecuted  bis 
studies  with  great  diligence  and  credit.  When  he  had 
taken  his  first  degree  in  arts,  he  accompanied  his  cousin- 
german,  Thomas  duke  of  Leeds,  on  a  tour  to  the  conti- 
nent. From  that  he  returned  in  1735  to  college,  to  pursue 
the  study  of  divinity  ;  the  same  year,  June  13,  he  was  ad- 
mitted M.  A.  and  soon  after  entered  into  holy  orders,  and 
was  presented  by  the  Oxford  family  to  the  rectory  of 
Bothall  in  Northumberland;  and  in  1737,  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  queen  Caroline,  was  appointed  chaplain  in 
ordinary  to  his  majesty.  In  1739  he  assumed  the  name 
and  arms  of  Drummond,  as  heir  in  entail  of  his  great 
grandfather  William,  first  viscount  of  Strathallan.  In  1743, 
he  attended  the  king  abroad,  and  on  his  return  was  installed 
prebendary  of  Westminster,  and  in  1745  was  admitted 
B.  D.  and  D.  D.  In  1748  he  was  promoted  to  the  see  of 
St.  Asaph  ;  a  diocese  where  his  name  will  ever  be  revered, 
and  which  he  constantly  mentioned  with  peculiar  affection 
and  delight,  as  having  enjoyed  there  for  thirteen  years,  a 
situation  most  congenial  to  his  feelings,  and  an  extent  of 
patronage  most  gratifying  to  his  benevolent  heart. 

In  1753  when  a  severe  attack  w7as  made  on  the  political 
character  of  his  two  intimate  friends  Mr.  Stone  and  Mr. 
Murray,  afterwards  the  great  earl  of  Mansfield,  the  bishop 
vindicated  his  old  school-fellows  before  a  committee  of  the 
privy  council,  directed  to  inquire  into  the  charge,  with 
that  persuasive  energy  of  truth,  which  made  the  king  ex- 
claim on  reading  the  examination,  "  That  is  indeed  a  man 
to  make  a  friend  of."  In  May  1761  he  was  translated  to 
the  see  of  Salisbury,  and  when  archbishop  of  York  elect, 
in  which  dignity  he  was  enthroned  in  the  November  fol- 
lowing, he  preached  the  coronation  sermon  of  their  pre- 
sent majesties,  and  soon  after  became  lord  high  almoner, 
and  a  member  of  the  privy  council.  In  the  former  office 
he  rectified  many  abuses,  and  rendered  it  more  extensively 
beneficial,  by  preventing  the  royal  bounty  from  being  con- 
sidered as  a  fund  to  which  persons  of  high  n;nk  and  opu- 
lence could  transfer  any  just  claims  on  their  own  private 
generosity.  On  one  occasion,  when  applied  to  by  a  very 
rich  peer  in  behalf  of  two  of  his  cousins,  he  replied,  "  that 


D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D.  335 

he  was  sorry  to  say  that  the  very  reason  which  would  in- 
duce himself  to  assist  them,  prevented  his  considering  them 
as  objects  of  his  majesty's  charity  —  their  near  relationship 
to  his  lordship."      His  conduct  in  the  metropolitan  see  of 
York  is  described  with  great  spirit  and  truth  by  Mr.  llastal, 
the  topographer  of  Southwell,  who  styles  him  "  peculiarly 
virtuous  as  a  statesman,  attentive  to  his  duties  as  a  church- 
man, magnificent  as  an  archbishop,  and  amiable  as  a  man." 
This  character  appears  to  be  confirmed  by  all  who  knew 
him.     As  a  statesman  he  acted  upon  manly  and  indepen- 
dent principles,  retiring  from   parliament  in    1762,  when 
new  men  and  measures  were  promoted,  averse,  in  his  opi- 
nion, to  that  system  of  government  under  which  the  country 
had  so  long  flourished.     When,  however,  any  question  was 
introduced,  in  which  the  interference  of  a  churchman  was 
proper,  he  was  sedulous  in  his  attendance,  and  prompt  in 
delivering  his  sentiments.     His  munificence  in  his  see  de- 
serves to  be  recorded.     When  he  was  translated  to  York, 
he  found  the  archiepiscopal  palace,  small,  mean,  and  in- 
commodious ;  and  the  parish  church  in  a  state  of  absolute 
decay.     To  the  former  he  made  many  splendid  additions, 
particularly  in  the  private  chapel.     The  latter  he  rebuilt 
from  its  foundation,  with  the   assistance  of  a  small  contri- 
bution from  the  clergyman  of  the  parish,  and  two  or  three 
neighbouring  gentlemen.  He  died  at  his  palace  at  Bishops- 
thorpe,  Dec.  10,   1776,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age,  and 
was  buried  by  his  own  desire,  in  a  very  private  manner, 
under  the  altar  of  the  church.     Although  his  literary  at- 
tainments were  very  considerable,  he  published  only  six 
occasional   sermons,    which  were   much  admired,   and  oi 
which  his  son,  rev.  George  Hay  Drummond,  M.  A.  pre- 
bendary of  York,  published  a  correct  edition  in  1803  :  to 
this  edition  are  prefixed  "  Memoirs  of  the   Archbishop's 
Life,"   and    it  also   contains  "  A  Letter  on  Theological 
Study,"  addressed  to  the  son  of  an  intimate  friend,  then  a 
candidate  for  holy  orders,  which  evinces  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  many  of  the  best  writers  on  theological 
subjects.     His  own  principles  appear  to  have  been  rather 
more  remote  from  those  contained  in  the  articles  and  ho- 
milies than  could  have  been  wished,    because  they  are 
thereby  not  so  consistent  with  some  of  the  writers  whom 
he  recommends  ;  and  he  speaks  with  unusual  freedom  of 
certain  doctrines  which  have  been  held  sacred  by  some  of 
the  wisest  and  best  divines  of  the  established  church. — Of 


336  D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D. 

the  "  Memoirs"  prefixed  to  this  new  edition  of  his  Ser- 
mons, we  have  availed  ourselves  in  this  brief  record  of  a 
prelate  whose  memory  certainly  deserves  to  be  rescued 
from  oblivion.  His  Sermons  are  composed  in  an  elegant 
and  classical  style,  and  contain  many  admirable  passages, 
and  much  excellent  advice  on  points  of  moral  and  religious 
practice.1 

DRUMMOND  (WILLIAM),    an  elegant  and  ingenious 
poet,  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Drummonds 
of  Carnock,  and  the  son  of  sir  John  Drummond  of  llaw- 
thornden,   was  born,  probably  at  Hawthornden,  his  father's 
seat  in  Scotland,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1585.     He  re- 
ceived his  school  education  at  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards 
studied  at  the  university  of  that  city,  where  he  took  the 
degree  of  master  of  arts.     At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
went  to  France,  in  compliance  with  his  father's  views,  and 
attended  lectures  on  the  civil  law,  a  subject  on  which  he 
left  sufficient  documents  to  prove  that  his  judgment  and 
proficiency  were  uncommon.     The  president  Lockhart,  to 
whom  these   manuscripts  were  communicated,    declared, 
that  if  Mr.  Drummond  had  followed  the  practice  of  the 
law,  "  he  might  have  made  the  best  figure  of  any  lawyer 
in  his  time."     After  a   residence  abroad  of  nearly  four 
years,  he  returned  to  Scotland  in  1610,  in  which  year  his 
father  died.     Instead,  however,  of  prosecuting  the  study 
of  the  law  as  was  expected,  he  thought  himself  sufficiently 
rich  in  the  possession  of  his  paternal  estate,  and  devoted 
his  time  to  the  perusal  of  the  ancient  classics,  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  his  poetical  genius.     Whether  he  had  composed 
or  communicated  any  pieces  to  his  friends  before  this  pe- 
riod, is  uncertain.     It  was  after  a  recovery  from  a  dan- 
gerous illness  that  he  wrote  a  prose  rhapsody,  entitled 
*'  Cypress  Grove,"  and  about  the  same  time  his  "  Flowers 
of  Zion,   or  Spiritual  Poems,"  which,   with  the  "  Cypress 
Grove,"  were  printed  at  Edinburgh  in  162S,  4to.     A  part 
of  his  Sonnets,  it  is  said,  were  published  as  early  as  1616. 
During   his  residence  at   Hawthornden,    he  courted  a 
young  lady  of  the  name  of  Cunningham,  with  whom  he 
was  about  to  have  been  united,    when   she  was  snatched 
from  him  by  a  violent  fever.     To  dissipate  his  grief,  which 

1  Memoirs  as  above. — See  nlso  sriine  excellent  letters  in  Forhcs's  Life  of 
Beattie,  and  Butler's  Life  of  Bishop  Hitdesley. — His  son,  the  editor  of  his  Ser- 
mons, was  unfortunately  drowned  by  shipwreck,  in  passing  from  Bideford  t« 
Greenock  in  December  l'fc07. 


D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D,  337 

every  object  and  every  thought  in  this  retirement  contri- 
buted to  revive,  he  travelled  on  the  continent  for  about 
eight  years,  visiting  Germany,  France,  and  Italy,  which 
at  that  time  comprized  all  that  was  interesting  in  polished 
society  and  study  to  a  man  of  curiosity  and  taste.  During 
this  tour  he  enriched  his  memory  and  imagination,  by 
studying  the  various  models  of  original  poetry,  and  col- 
lected a  valuable  set  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  with 
some  of  which  he  enriched  the  college  library  of  Edin- 
burgh, and  others  were  reposited  at  Hawthornden.  The 
books  and  manuscripts  which  he  gave  to  Edinburgh  were 
arranged  in  a  catalogue  printed  in  1627,  and  introduced  by 
a  Latin  preface  from  his  pen,  on  the  advantage  and  ho- 
nour of  libraries,  which  at  that  time  were  considered  ra- 
ther as  accidental  collections  than  necessary  institutions. 

On  his  return  to  Scotland  he  found  the  nation  distracted 
by  political  and  religious  disputes,  which  combined  with 
the  same  causes  in  England  to  bring  on  a  civil  war.  But 
why  these  should  oblige  him,  immediately  on  his  return,  to 
quit  his  paternal  seat,  we  know  not.  The  author  of  his 
Life,  prefixed  to  the  folio  edition  of  his  works,  in  1711, 
merely  informs  us,  that  having  found  his  native  country  in 
a  state  of  anarchy  and  confusion,  he  retired  to  the  seat  of 
his  brother-in-law,  sir  John  Scot  of  Scotstarvet,  a' man  of 
letters,  and  probably  of  congenial  sentiments  on  public 
affairs.  During  his  stay  with  this  gentleman  he  wrote  his 
"  History  of  the  Five  James's,"  kings  of  Scotland,  a  work 
so  inconsistent  with  liberal  notions  of  civil  policy  as  to  have 
added  very  little  to  his  reputation,  although  when  first 
published,  a  few  years  after  his  death,  and  when  political 
opinions  ran  in  extremes,  it  was  probably  not  without  its 
admirers.  It  is  uncertain  at  what  time  he  was  enabled  to 
enjoy  his  retirement  at  Hawthornden,  but  it  appears  that 
he  was  there  in  his  forty  fifth  year  when  he  married  Eliza- 
beth Logan,  (grand-daughter  of  sir  Robert  Logan,  of  the 
house  of  Restelrig),  in  whom  he  fancied  a  resemblance  to 
his  first  mistress.  About  two  years  before  this  event,  he 
repaired  his  house,  and  placed  the  following  inscription  on 
it :  "  Divino  muncrt  Gitlitlmus  Drummondus  ab  Hawthorn- 
den,  Joannis  Equitis  aurati  filius,  ut  honesto  otio  quiescerct, 
sibi  Hf  successoribtu  instauravit,  1638." 

During  the  civil  war,  his  attachment  to  the  king  and 
church  induced  him  to  write  many  pieces  in  support  of  the 
establishment,  which  involved  him  with  the  revolutionary 

VOL.  XII.  Z 


,338  D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D. 

party,  who  not  only  called  him  to  a  severe  account,  but 
compelled  him  to  furnish  his  quota  of  men  and  arms  to 
fight  against  the  cause  which  he  espoused.  It  is  said  that 
"  his  estate  lying  in  three  different  counties,  he  had  not 
occasion  to  send  one  whole  man,  but  halves  and  quarters, 
and  such-like  fractions  ;  upon  which  he  wrote  extempore 
the  following  verses  to  his  majesty  : 

"  Of  all  these  forces  raised  against  the  king, 

'Tis  my  strange  hap  not  one  whole  man  to  bring, 
From  divers  parishes,  yet  clivers  men, 
But  all  in  halts  and  quarters  ;   great  king,  then, 
In  halfs  and  quarters  if  they  come  'gainst  thee, 
In  halfs  and  quarters  send  them  back  to  me. 

Or, 

In  legs  and  arms,  send  thou  them  back  to  me'." 
His  grief  for  the  murder  of  his  royal  master  is  said 
to  have  been  so  great  as  to  shorten  his  days.  He  died 
on  the  4th  of  December  1649,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  his  own  aile,  in  the  church 
of  Lesswade,  near  to  his  house  of  Hawthornden.  He  left 
two  sons  and  a  daughter,  William,  who  was  knighted  in 
Charles  II. 's  reign,  Robert,  and  Elizabeth,  who  was  mar- 
ried to  Dr.  Henderson,  a  physician  of  Edinburgh. 

His  character  has  descended  to  us  without  blemish.  Un- 
ambitious of  riches  or  honours,  he  appears  to  have  pro- 
jected the  life  of  a  retired  scholar,  from  which  he  was  di- 
verted only  by  the  commotions  that  robbed  his  country  of 
its  tranquillity.  He  was  highly  accomplished  in  ancient 
and  modern  languages,  and  in  the  amusements  which  be- 
came a  man  of  his  rank.  Among  his  intimate  friends  and 
learned  contemporaries,  he  seems  to  have  been  mostly 
connected  with  the  earl  of  Stirling,  and  the  celebrated 
English  poets  Drayton  and  Ben  Jonson.  The  latter  paid 
him  a  visit  at  Hawthornden,  and  communicated  to  him 
without  reserve,  many  particulars  of  his  life  and  opinions, 
which  Drummond  committed  to  writing,  with  a  sketch  of 
Jonson's  character  and  habits,  which  has  not  been  thought 
very  liberal.  This  charge  of  illiberality,  however,  is  con- 
siderably lessened  when  we  reflect  that  Drummond  appears 
to  have  had  no  intention  of  publishing  what  he  had  col- 
lected from  Jonson,  and  that  the  manuscript  did  not  appear 
until  many  years  after  Jonson  was  beyond  all  censure  or 
praise.  An  edition  of  Drummond's  poems  was  printed 
at  London,  1656,  Svo,  with  a  preface  by  Philips.  The 


D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D.  339 

Edinburgh  edition  in  folio,  1711,  includes  the  whole  of 
his  works,  both  in  verse  and  prose,  his  political  papers, 
familiar  letters,  and  the  history  of  the  James's ;  with  an 
account  of  his  life,  which,  however  unsatisfactory,  is  all 
that  can  now  be  relied  on  *.  A  recent  edition  of  his  poems 
was  printed  at  London  in  1791,  but  somewhat  differently 
arranged  from  that  of  1656.  A  more  correct  arrangement 
is  still  wanting,  if  his  numerous  admirers  shall  succeed  in 
procuring  that  attention  of  which  he  has  been  hitherto 
deprived. 

As  a  poet  he  ranks  among  the  first  reformers  of  versifi- 
cation, and  in  elegance,  harmony,  and  delicacy  of  feeling, 
is  so  superior  to  his  contemporaries,  that  the  neglect  with 
which  he  has  been  treated  would  appear  unaccountable  if 
we  did  not  consider  that  it  is  but  of  late  the  public  atten- 
tion has  been  drawn  to  the  more  ancient  English  poets. 
Mr.  Headly,  however,  Mr.  Neve  the  ingenious  author  of 
"  Cursory  Remarks  on  some  of  the  ancient  English  Poets," 
Dr.  Warton,  Mr.  Pinkerton,  Mr.  Park,  and  other  critics  of 
unquestionable  taste,  have  lately  expatiated  on  his  merit 
with  so  much  zeal  and  ability,  that  he  is  no  longer  in 
danger  of  being  overlooked,  unless  by  those  superficial 
readers  who  are  content  with  what  is  new  and  fashionable, 
and  profess  to  be  amateurs  of  an  art  of  which  they  know 
neither  the  history  nor  the  principles. 

"  He  inherited,"  says  his  last  encomiast,  "  a  native 
poetic  genius,  but  vitiated  by  the  false  taste  which  pre- 
vailed in  his  age,  a  fondness  for  the  conceits  of  the  Italian 
poets,  Petrarch  and  Marino,  and  their  imitators  among 
the  French,  Ronsard,  Bellai,  and  Du  Bartas.  Yet  many 
of  his  sonnets  contain  simple  and  natural  thoughts  clothed 
in  great  beauty  of  expression.  His  poem  entitled  "  Forth 
Feasting,"  which  attracted  the  envy  as  well  as  the  praise 
of  Ben  Jonson,  is  superior,  in  harmony  of  numbers,  to 
any  of  the  compositions  of  the  contemporary  poets  of  Eng- 
land; and  is,  in  its  subject,  one  of  the  most  elegant  pa- 
negyrics that  ever  were  addressed  by  a  poet  to  a  prince. 
In  prose  writing,  the  merits  of  Drummond  are  as  unequal 
as  they  are  in  poetry.  When  an  imitator,  he  is  harsh,  tur- 
gid, affected,  and  unnatural  ;  as  in  his  "  History  of  the 
Five  James's,"  which,  though  judicious  in  the  arrange- 

*  Mr.  G.  Chalmers   is  of  opinion  that  the   learned  Ruddiinan  assisted  in 
preparing  this  edition. — Chalmers's  Life  of  Ruddijnan,  p.  53. 

2    2 


340  D  R  U  M  M  O  N  D. 

ment  of  the  matter,   and   abounding  in    excellent   poli- 
tical and   moral  sentiments,  is  barbarous  and  uncouth  in 
its  style,  from  an  affectation  of  imitating  partly  the  manner 
of  Livy,  and  partly  that  of  Tacitus.     Thus,  there  is  a  per- 
petual   departure    from    ordinary   construction,     and-  fre- 
quently a  violation  of  the  English  idiom.     In  others  of  his 
prose  compositions,   where  he  followed  his  own  taste,  as  in 
the  "  Irene,"   and  "  Cypress-Grove,"  and  particularly  in 
the  former,   there  is  a  remarkable  purity  and  ease  of  ex- 
pression, and  often   a  very  high  tone  of  eloquence.     The 
"  Irene,"   written  in    1638,   is  a  persuasive  to  civil  union, 
and  the  accommodation  of  those  fatal  differences  between 
the  king  and  the  people,  then  verging  to  a  crisis.     It  is  a 
model  of  a  popular  address  ;  and  allowing  for  its  pushing 
too  far  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience,  bears  equal  evi- 
dence of  the  political  sagacity,  copious  historical  informa- 
tion, and  great  moral  worth  and  benevolence  of  its  author." 
As  the  neglect  of  one  age   is  sometimes  repaid   by  the 
extravagant  commendations  of  another,  perhaps  this  tem- 
perate, judicious,  and   elegant   character  of  Drummond, 
copied  from  lord  Woodhouselee's  Life  of  Kames,  will  be 
found  more  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  true  criticism  than 
some  of  those  impassioned  sketches  in  which  judgment 
has  less  share. 

There  is  one  poem  added  to  the  edition  of  his  works  in 
the  "  English  Poets"  of  a  very  different  kind.  It  is  en- 
titled "  Polemo-Middinia,"  or  the  battle  of  the  dunghill, 
a  rare  example  of  burlesque,  and  the  first  macaronic 
poem  by  a  native  of  Great  Britain.  A  copy  of  it  was  pub- 
lished by  bishop  Gibson,  when  a  young  man,  at  Oxford  in 
1691,  4 to,  with  Latin  notes*,  but  the  text,  probably  from 
Mr.  Gibson's  being  unacquainted  with  the  Scotch  language, 
is  less  correct  than  that  of  any  copy  that  has  fallen  in  the 
way  of  his  late  editor,  who  has  therefore  preferred  the 
elegant  edition  printed  by  Messrs.  Foulis  of  Glasgow  in 
1768.  The  humour  of  this  piece  is  so  remote  from  the 
characteristics  of  his  polished  mind  and  serious  muse,  that 
it  may  be  regarded  as  a  very  singular  curiosity.  It  appears 
to  be  the  fragment  of  a  larger  poem  which  the  author 
wrote  for  the  amusement  of  his  friends,  but  was  not  anxious 
to  preserve.  Mr.  Gilchrist  conjectures  that  it  was  written 

*  See  a  furious  paper  on  this  edition,  by  Mr.  Gilchrist,  in  the  Censura  Li- 
Uraria,  vol.  III.  p.  359. 


DRUM  M  O  N  D.  341 

when  Drummond  was  on  a  visit  to  his  brother-in-law  at 
Scotstarvet,  and  that  it  alludes  to  some  rustic  flispute  well 
known  at  the  time. l 

DRURY  (ROBERT),  an  English  mariner,  and  a  native 
of  Leicestershire,  merits  some  notice  as  the  author  of  the 
most  authentic  account  ever  given  of  Madagascar,  which 
was  first  published  in  1729,  reprinted  in  1743,  and  more 
recently,  in  1808.  Drury  was  shipwrecked  in  the  De- 
grave  East  Indiaman,  on  the  south  side  of  that  island, 
in  1702,  being  then  a  boy,  and  lived  there  as  a  slave  fif- 
teen years.  After  his  return  to  England,  he  had  among 
those  who  knew  him,  the  character  of  a  plain  honest  man, 
without  any  appearance  of  fraud  or  imposture.  The  truth 
of  his  narrative,  as  far  as  it  goes,  was  confirmed  by  its 
exact  agreement  with  the  journal  kept  by  Mr.  John  Ben- 
bow  (eldest  son  of  the  brave  but  unfortunate  admiral), 
who,  being  second-mate  of  the  Degrave,  was  also  ship- 
wrecked, and  narrowly  escaped  being  massacred  by  the 
natives,  with  the  captain  and  the  rest  of  the  crew,  Drury 
and  three  other  boys  only  excepted.  Mr.  Benbow's  jour- 
nal was  accidentally  burnt  in  1714,  in  a  fire  near  Aldgate; 
but  several  of  his  friends  who  had  seen  it,  recollected  the 
particulars,  and  its  correspondence  with  Dairy's.  (See 
BENBOVV).  Indeed  the  authenticity  of  Drury's  narrative 
seems  to  be  amply  confirmed,  and  his  facts  have  been  ac- 
cordingly adopted  by  the  compilers  of  geography.  There 
is  all  that  simplicity  and  verbiage  which  may  be  expected 
in  the  narratives  of  the  illiterate,  but  none  of  the  artifices 
of  fiction.  After  his  return  from  his  captivity,  he  went  to 
Loughborough,  to  his  sister  and  other  relations.  It  is  said 
that  he  had  the  place  of  a  porter  at  the  India-house,  and 
that  his  father  left  him  200/.  and  the  reversion  of  a  house 
at  Stoke  Newington.  A  friend  of  the  late  Mr.  Duncombe, 
who  was  living  in  1769,  knew  him  well,  and  used  fre- 
quently to  call  upon  him  at  his  house  in  Lincoln's-inn 
fields,  which  were  not  then  inclosed,  and  had  often  seen 
Drury  throw  a  javelin  there,  and  hit  a  small  mark  at  a 
surprizing  distance;  but  other  particulars  of  his  life  are 
not  known.9 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Johnson  and  Chalmers's  English  Poets,  1810. — Chalmers's 
Life  of  KudUiman,  p.  53. — Tytler's  Life  of  lord  Kames. — Centura  Lileraria, 
vol.  III. 

i  Hughes's  Letters  by  Duncombe,  vol.  II.  253.— Gent.  Mag.  LX.  1189; 
LXI.  530. 


342  D  R  U  R  Y. 

DRURYJ WILLIAM),  an  English  gentleman  of  consider- 
able learning  and  genius,  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was 
^C  teacher  of  poetry  and  rhetoric  in  the  English  college  at 
Dovvay,  in  16 IS.  He  was  invited  thither  by  Dr.  Kellison, 
the  president,  who  was  then  providing  professors  to  teach 
such  young  men  as  had  been  drawn  from  the  protestant  re- 
ligion in  England,  and  had  hitherto  been  educated  in  the 
schools  of  the  Jesuits.  Drury  was  for  some  time  a  prisoner 
in  England,  on  account  of  his  religion,  but  about  1616  was 
released  at  the  intercession  of  count  Gondemar,  the  Spanish 
ambassador  in  England,  to  whom  he  dedicated  his  Latin 
plays.  These  plays,  three  in  number,  entitled  "  Aluredus 
sive  Alfretius,"  a  tragi-comedy ;  "  Mors,"  a  comedy; 
and  "  Reparatus  sive  depositum,"  a  tragi-comedy,  were 
printed  together  at  Doway,  in  1628,  12mo,  and  often  re- 
printed. There  is  a  copy  of  his  "  Aluredus"  in  the  British 
Museum,  printed  separately,  of  the  date  1620,  16mo. 
These  plays,  Dodd  informs  us,  were  exhibited  with  great 
applause,  first  privately,  in  the  refectory  of  the  college  of 
Doway,  and  afterwards  in  the  open  court  or  quadrangle  in 
the  presence  of  the  principal  persons  of  the  town  and  uni- 
versity. * 

DRUSIUS,  or  DRIECHE  (JoiiN),  a  learned  protestant 
and  eminent  critic,  was  born  at  Oudenard,  in  Elandcrs, 
June  28,  1550.  He  was  designed  for  the  study  of  di- 
vinity, and  sent  very  early  to  Ghent,  to  learn  the  languages 
there,  and  afterwards  to  Louvain,  to  pass  through  a  course 
of  philosophy ;  but  his  father  having  been  outlawed  for 
his  religion  in  1567,  and  deprived  of  his  estate,  retired  to 
England,  and  Drusius  soon  followed  him,  though  his  mo- 
ther, who  continued  a  bigoted  catholic,  endeavoured  to 
prevent  him.  Masters  were  provided  to  superintend  his 
studies;  and  he  had  soon  an  opportunity  of  learning  He- 
brew under  Anthony  Cevellier,  or  rather  Chevalier,  who 
was  come  over  to  England,  and  taught  that  language  pub- 
licly in  the  university  of  Cambridge.  Drusius  lodged  at 
his  house,  and  had  a  great  share  in  his  friendship.  He 
did  not  return  to  London  till  1571  ;  and,  while  he  was 
preparing  to  go  to  France,  the  news  of  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew  made  him  change  his  resolution.  Soon  r.fu-r 
this,  he  was  invited  to  Cambridge  by  Cartwright,  the  pro- 
fessor of  divinity  ;  and  also  to  Oxford,  by  Dr.  Lawrence 
Humphrey,  whither  he  went,  and  became  professor  of  the 

»  Dodd's  Church  History,  vol.  IL 


D  R  U  S  I  U  S.  343 

oriental  languages  there  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  He 
taught  at  Oxford  four  years  with  great  success*  ;  after 
which,  being  desirous  of  returning  to  his  own  country,  he 
went  to  Louvain,  where  he  studied  the  civil  law.  The 
troubles  on  account  of  religion  obliged  him  to  come  back 
to  his  father  at  London  ;  but,  upon  the  pacification  of 
Ghent,  in  1576,  they  both  returned  to  their  own  country. 
The  son  tried  his  fortune  in  Holland,  and  was  appointed 
professor  of  the  oriental  tongues  there,  in  1577.  While 
he  continued  in  this  station  at  Leyden,  he  married  in  1580  a 
young  gentlewoman  of  Ghent,  who  was  more  than  half  a  con- 
vert, and  became  a  thorough  protestant  after  her  marriage. 
The  stipend  allowed  to  Drusins,  in  Holland,  not  being  suf- 
ficient to  support  himself  and  family,  he  gave  intimations 
that  if  better  terms  should  be  offered  him  elsewhere,  he  would 
accept  of  them.  The  prince  of  Orange  wrote  to  the  ma- 
gistrates of  Leyden,  to  take  care  not  to  lose  a  man  of  his 
merit;  yet  they  suffered  him  to  remove  to  Friesland,  whi- 
ther he  had  been  invited  to  be  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the 
university  of  Franeker.  He  was  admitted  into  that  profes- 
sorship in  1585,  and  discharged  the  functions  of  it  with 
great  honour  till  his  death,  which  happened  in  1616. 

He  was  the  author  of  several  works,  which  shew  him  to 
have  been  well  skilled  in  Hebrew,  and  to  have  gained  a 
considerable  knowledge  in  the  Jewish  antiquities,  and  the 
text  of  the  Old  Testament.  He  was  a  man  of  great  mo- 
desty, and  uncommonly  free  from  prejudices;  which  making 
him  more  reserved  than  many  others  in  condemning  and 
applauding,  occasioned  him  to  be  decried  as  a  lukewarm 
protestant,  and  created  him  many  anemies. 

*  His  progress  and  liberal  reception  rence  Humphrey,   president  thereof,} 

at  Oxford,  is  thus  related  by  Wood  :  either  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  or  Syriac  lec- 

"  Turning  his  course  to  Oxon,  in  the  tures.      In  1573,  he  was,  as  a  member 

beginning   of  the  year  1.572,  he  was  of  the  said  house  of  Merlon,  licensed 

entertained  by  the  society  of  Merton-  to  proceed  in   arts,    anil    in  the  year 

college,  admitted  to  the  degree  of  B.  A.  following   was   recommended    by    the 

as  a  member  of  thai  house,  in  July  chancellor    of    the    university  to    the 

the  same  year;   and   in  the  beginning  members   of  the  convocation,  that  he 

of  August  following,  had  a  chamber  set  might   publicly  read   the   Syriac   lau- 

apart  for  him  by  the  society,  who  then  guage   in  one   of  the  public  schools, 

also  decreed  that  he  should  have  forty  and   that  for   his  pains   he  receive  a 

shillings   yearly    allowed    to    him,    so  competent  stipend.     Soon  after,  upon 

long  as  he   read   a   Hebrew  lecture  in  consideration  of  the   matter,  they  al- 

their    common    refectory.      For    four  lowed  him  twenty  marks,  to  be  equally 

years,    at  least,    he   lived  in  the  said  gathered  from  among  them,    and   or- 

house,  and  constantly  read  (as   he  did  dered   that  the  same  respect  be  given 

sometimes  to  the  scholars  of  Magdalen  to  him,  as  to  any  of  the  lecturers.    He 

college,  upon  the  desire  of  Dr.  Law-  left  Oxford  in  1576." 


344  D  R  U  S  I  U  S. 

His  works  are  very  numerous,  and  many  of  them  still  held 
in  great  esteem.  Niceron  has  given  a  catalogue  of  forty, 
but  as  the  most  valuable  part  of  them  consist  of  bihlical 
criticisms,  and  have  been  incorporated  in  the  "  Critici 
Sacri,"  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  specify  the  titles  of  them 
when  published  separately.  Drusius  carried  on  so  exten- 
sive a  correspondence  with  the  literati  of  Europe,  that  after 
his  death  there  were  found  among  his  papers  2300  Latin 
letters,  besides  many  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  French,  English, 
and  Dutch. 

His  wife  is  supposed  to  have  died  in  1599.  He  had 
three  children  by  her ;  a  daughter  born  at  Leyden  in  1582, 
and  married  in  1604  to  Abel  Curiander,  who  wrote  the  life 
of  his  father-in-law,  from  which  this  account  is  taken.  He 
had  another  daughter,  born  at  Franeker  in  1587,  who 
died  at  Ghent,  whither  she  had  taken  a  journey  about  bu- 
siness. A  priest,  knowing  her  to  be  dangerously  ill,  went 
to  confess  her,  and  to  give  her  extreme  unction;  but  she 
immediately  sent  him  away,  and  her  husband  (for  she  was 
married)  threatened  to  resent  his  offer.  It  was  with  great 
cxpence  and  danger  that  her  body  was  removed  into  Zea- 
land, for  at  Ghent  it  would  have  been  denied  burial.  He  had 
also  a  son,  JOHN,  who,  if  he  had  lived  longer,  would  have 
been  a  prodigy  of  learning.  He  was  born  at  Franeker  in 
3588,  and  began  at  five  years  old  to  learn  the  Latin  and 
Hebrew  tongues  ;  at  seven  he  explained  the  Hebrew  psalter 
with  great  exactness ;  at  nine  he  could  read  the  Hebrew 
without  points,  and  add  the  points  where  they  were  wanting, 
according  to  the  rules  of  grammar.  He  spoke  Latin  as 
readily  as  his  mother-tongue;  and  could  make  himself 
understood  in  English.  At  twelve  he  wrote  extempore,  in 
verse  and  prose,  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews.  At  seven- 
teen he  made  a  speech  in  Latin  to  our  James  I.  in  the 
midst  of  his  court,  and  was  admired  by  all  that  were  pre- 
sent. He  had  a  lively  genius,  a  solid  judgment,  a  strong 
memory,  and  an  indefatigable  ardour  for  study.  He  was 
likewise  of  an  agreeable  temper,  which  made  him  greatly 
beloved,  and  had  a  singular  turn  for  piety.  He  died  in 
1609,  of  the  stone,  in  England,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Thomas,  dean  of  Chichester,  who  allowed  him  a  very 
considerable  salary.  He  left  several  works  ;  a  great  many 
letters  in  Hebrew,  verses  in  the  same  language,  and  notes 
on  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon.  He  had  begun  to  translate 
into  Latin  the  Itinerary  of  Benjamin  Tudelensisj  and  the 


D  R  U  S  I  U  S.  345 

Chronicle  of  the  second  Temple;  and  digested  into  an 
alphabetical  order  the  Nomenclature  of  Elias  Levita ;  to 
which  he  added  the  Greek  words  which  were  not  in  the  first 
edition.1 

DRUTHMAR  (CHRISTIAN),  a  celebrated  monk  in  the 
abbey  of  Corby,  in  the  ninth  century,  was  born  in  Aqui- 
taine,  and  afterwards  taught  in  the  monasteries  of  Stavelo 
and  Malmedy,  in  the  diocese  of  Leige.  He  was  very 
learned  for  the  age  he  lived  in,  and  left  a  commentary  on 
St.  Matthew,  Strasburg,  1514;  or  Haguenau,  1530,  fol. ; 
and  in  the  library  of  the  fathers,  which  contained  some 
opinions  respecting  transubstantiation  that  were  favourable 
to  the  protestant  faith.  The  second  edition  is  scarce, 
but  the  first  much  more  so.  At  the  end  of  each  is  part  of 
a  Commentary  on  St.  Luke  and  St.  John,  which  he  did  not 
finish.  The  scarcity  of  his  work  may  be  accounted  for 
from  its  being  suppressed,  in  consequence  of  his  opinions 
on  transubstantiation.  Dupin  says  that  his  commentaries 
are  short,  historical,  easy,  and  without  allegories  or  tropes  ; 
and  adds,  that  Druthmar  was  called  the  Grammarian,  on 
account  of  his  skill  in  the  languages,  particularly  Greek 
and  Latin,  which  he  always  interpreted  literally.2 

DRYANDER  (JOHN),  whose  real  name  was  Eich- 
mens,  was  born  at  Wetterau,  in  Hesse,  but  received  his 
education  in  France,  and  took  his  degree  of  doctor  at 
Mentz.  He  went  thence  to  Marpurg,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  teaching  anatomy  for  twenty-four  years ;  viz. 
from  1536  to  1560,  when  he  died.  He  was  of  the  pro- 
testant religion.  His  works  are,  "  Anatomise  pars  prior, 
in  qua  membra  ad  caput  spectantia,  recensentur,  et  de- 
lineantur,"  Marpurg,  1537,  4to.  He  first  observed  se- 
veral distinctions,  before  unnoticed,  between  the  medullary 
and  cortical  part  of  the  brain,  and  he  saw  the  olfactory 
nerves,  which  he  miscalls  the  optic  nerves.  In  1541  he 
published  "  Anatomia  Mundini  ad  vetustissimorum  aliquot 
manuscriptorum  codicum  fidern  collata,"  4to,  with  notes, 
in  which  he  frequently  corrects  the  errors  of  his  author, 
and  for  which  he  is  deservedly  placed  by  Haller  among  the 
restorers  and  improvers  of  anatomy.  He  is  also  mentioned 
with  honour  in  the  Bib.  Anat.  of  Douglas. 3 

'  Life  by  Coriander. — Niceron,  vol.  XXII.— Gen.  Diet. — Freheri  Theatrum. 
«— Foppen  Bibl.  Bclg. — Blount's  Cfinsura. — Saxii  Onomast. 

*  Moreri. — Dupin. — Clement  Bibl.  Ciineuse. — Cave,  vol.  II. — Fabric.  BibJ. 
Lat.  Med.  3  Moreri.-~-Frel»eri  Theatrum. — -Rees's  Cyclopaedia. 


346  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

DRYDEN  (JOHN),  an  illustrious  English  poet,  was  son 
of  Erasmus  Dryden,  of  Tichmersh,  in  Northamptonshire, 
third  son  of  Erasmus  Dryden,  of  Cannons-Ashbv,  in  the 
same  county,  baronet;  and  born  at  Aldwincle,  near  Oundle, 
in  that  county,  according  to  the  general  opinion,  August 
9,  1631,  although  Mr.  Malone  seems  inclined  to  remove 
his  birth  to  a  prior  year.  He  was  educated  in  grammar- 
learning  at  Westminster-school,  being  king's  scholar  there, 
under  Dr.  Busby;  and  was  thence  elected,  May  II,  1650, 
a  scholar  of  Trinity-college,  Cambridge.  During  his  stay 
at  school,  he  translated  the  third  satire  of  Persius  for  a 
Thursday  night's  exercise,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  in  an 
advertisement  at  the  head  of  that  satire  ;  and  the  year  before 
he  left  it,  wrote  a  poem  on  the  death  of  the  lord  Hastings  ; 
which  however  \vas  but  an  indifferent  performance,  and  par- 
ticularly defective  in  point  of  harmony.  He  had  before  this, 
in  1649,  wrote  some  verses,  which  have  been  preserved.  In 
1652  he  was  slightly  punished  for  disobedience  and  contu- 
macy. In  January  1654,  he  took  his  degree  of  B.  A.  but 
not  that  of  M.  A.  until  June  17,  1668,  and  then  by  a  dis- 
pensation from  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  letter  from  Charles  H.  By  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1654,  he  inherited  a  small  estate  in  Northamp- 
tonshire, and  after  residing  seven  years  at  Cambridge,  re- 
moved to  London  in  1657.  In  consequence  of  his  kins- 
man, sir  Gilbert  Pickering,  being  a  favourite  of  Oliver  and 
Richard  Cromwell,  Dryden  in  1658  published  "Heroic 
Stanzas  on  the  late  lord  Protector,"  written  after  his  fu- 
neral :  arid  in  1660,  "  Astraea  Redux,"  a  poem  on  the 
happy  restoration  and  return  of  his  sacred  majesty  Charles 
the  Second.  A  remarkable  distich  in  this  piece  exposed 
our  poet  to  the  ridicule  of  the  wits  : 

"  An  horrid  stillness  first  invades  the  ear, 
And  in  that  silence  we  the  tempest  fear." 

In  1661  he  produced  his  first  play,  "  The  Duke  of 
Guise,"  which  was  followed  the  next  year  by  the  "  Wild 
Gallant."  In  the  same  year,  1662,  he  addressed  a  poem 
to  the  lord  chancellor  Hyde,  presented  on  new-year's-day  ; 
and,  the  same  year  also,  published  a  satire  on  the 
Dutch*.  His  next  production  was  "  Annus  Mirabilis," 

*  In  this  year  he  was  elected  a  fellow  of  the  royal  society,  a  circumstance 
which  appears  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  most  of  his  biographers.  Dr.  Birch 
mentions  it  in  his  History  of  the  Royal  Society. 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  347 

the  year  of  wonders,  1666  ;  an  historical  poem  :  printed  in 
1667.  His  reputation  as  a  poet  was  now  so  well  established, 
that  this,  together  with  his  attachment  to  the  court,  pro- 
cured him  the  place  of  poet-laureat,  and  historiographer 
to  Charles  II.  of  which  accordingly  he  took  possession, 
upon  the  death  of  sir  William  Davenant,  in  1668,  but  his 
patent  was  not  signed  till  1670.  The  pension  of  the  two 
offices  was  200/.  a  year.  In  1667  he  published  "  An  Es- 
say on  Dramatic  Poesy,"  dedicated  to  Charles  earl  of 
Dorset  and  Middlesex.  In  the  preface  we  are  told  that 
the  purpose  of  this  discourse  was  to  vindicate  the  honour 
of  our  English  writers  from  the  censure  of  those  who  un- 
justly prefer  the  French.  The  essay  is  drawn  up  in  the 
form  of  a  dialogue.  It  was  animadverted  upon  by  sir  Ro- 
bert Howard,  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Great  Favourite,  or 
Duke  of  Lerma,"  to  which  Dryden  replied  in  a  piece  pre- 
fixed to  the  second  edition  of  his  "  Indian  Emperor." 
Although  his  first  plays  had  not  been  very  successful,  he 
went  on,  and  in  the  space  of  twenty-five  years  pro- 
duced twenty- seven  plays,  besides  his  other  numerous 
poetical  writings.  Of  the  stage,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  when 
he  had  once  invaded  it,  he  kept  possession  ;  not  indeed, 
without  the  competition  of  rivals,  who  sometimes  pre- 
vailed, or  the  censure  of  critics,  which  was  often  poignant, 
and  often  just ;  but  with  such  a  degree  of  reputation,  as 
made  him  at  least  secure  of  being  heard,  whatever  might 
be  the  final  determination  of  the  public.  These  plays  were 
collected,  and  published  in  6  vols.  12mo,  in  1725;  to 
which  is  prefixed  the  essay  on  dramatic  poetry,  and  a  de- 
dication to  the  duke  of  Newcastle  by  Congreve,  in  which 
the  author  is  placed  in  a  very  equivocal  light. 

In  1671  he  was  publicly  ridiculed  on  the  stage  under 
the  character  of  Bays,  in  the  duke  of  Buckingham's  famous 
comedy  called  the  "  Rehearsal."  The  character  of  Bays, 
as  we  are  told  ia  the  key  printed  with  that  satirical  per- 
formance in  17 '55,  was  originally  intended  for  sir  Robert 
Howard,  under  the  name  of  Bilboa :  but  a  stop  being  put 
to  the  representation  by  the  breaking  out  of  the  plague  in 
1665,  it  was  laid  by  for  several  years,  and  not  exhibited  on 
the  stage  till  Dec.  7,  1671.  During  this  interval,  Dryden 
being  advanced  to  the  laurel,  the  noble  author  changed 
the  name  of  his  poet  from  Bilboa  to  Bays;  and  made  great 
alterations  in  his  play,  in  order  to  ridicule  several  dramatic 
performances,  which  had  appeared  since  the  first  writing  of 


343  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

it,  and  particularly  some  of  Dry  den's.  lie  affected  to  de- 
spise the  satire,  as  appears  from  his  dedication  of  the 
translation  of  Juvenal  and  Persius ;  where,  speaking  of  the 
many  lampoons  and  libels  that  had  been  written  against 
him,  he  says  :  "  I  answered  not  the  Rehearsal,  because  I 
knew  the  author  sat  to  himself,  when  he  drew  the  picture, 
and  was  the  very  Bayes  of  his  own  farce;  because  also  I 
knew,  that  my  betters  were  more  concerned,  than  I  was, 
in  that  satire  ;  and  lastly,  because  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  John- 
son, the  main  pillars  of  it,  were  two  such  languishing  gen- 
tlemen in  their  conversation,  that  I  could  liken  them  to 
nothing  but  their  own  relations,  those  noble  characters  of 
men  of  wit  and  pleasure  about  town."  Insensible,  however, 
as  he  affected  to  be,  he  did  not  fail  to  take  a  full  revenge 
on  its  author,  under  the  character  of  Zimri,  in  his  "  Ab- 
salom and  Achitophel." 

In  1673,  his  tragi-comedies,  entitled  the  "  Conquest  of 
Granada"  by  the  Spaniards,  in  two  parts,  were  attacked 
by  Richard  Leigh,  a  player  belonging  to  the  duke  of  York's 
theatre,  in  a  pamphlet  called  "  A  Censure  of  the  Rota," 
&c.  which  occasioned  several  other  pamphlets  to  be  writ- 
ten. Elkanah  Settle  likewise  criticised  these  plays  ;  and 
it  is  remarkable  that  Settle,  though  in  reality  a  mean  and 
inconsiderable  poet,  was  the  mighty  rival  of  Dryden,  and  for 
many  years  bore  his  reputation  above  him*.  To  the  first 
part  of  the  "  Conquest  of  Granada,"  Dryden  prefixed  an 
essay  on  Heroic  Plays,  and  subjoined  to  the  second  a  De- 
fence of  the  Epilogue  ;  or,  an  essay  on  the  dramatic  poetry 
of  the  last  age.  In  1679  was  published  an  "  Essay  on  Sa- 
tire," written  jointly  by  the  earl  of  Mulgrave  and  Dryden. 
This  piece,  which  was  handed  about  in  MS.  contained 

*  Dr.  Johnson  has  taken  particular  some  solace  to  the    consciousness  of 
notice   of   Dryden's   controversy   with  weakness,    and  some  mortification    to 
Settle.     As    Dryden's    pamphlet    has  the  pride  of  wisdom.     But  let  it  be  re- 
liever been  thought  worihy  of  repub-  membered,  that  minds  are  not  levelled 
lii'ilion,  and  is  not  easily  to  he  found,  in  their  powers  but  when  they  are  first 
the  doctor  has  endeavoured  to  gratify  levelled  in  their  desires.     Dryden   and 
the  curiosity  of  his  readers,  by  giving  Settle  had  both  placed  tlieir  hapt 
large  extracts  from  it ;  larger,  perhaps,  in  the  claps  of  multitudes."      Klkanah 
than  the  performance  merited,  but  his  Settle's   tragedy,   entitled    "The    i. in- 
concluding     remark      is     admirable  :  press  of  .Morocco,''  which  v. 
"  Such  was  the  criticism  to  which  the  in   rhyme,  and  for  a   while  was  mucli 
£enius  of  Dryden  could  be  reduced  be-  applauded,  is   said  to   have   been  the 
tween  rage  and  terror;   rage  with  little  first  play  embellished  with  sculpture*, 
provocation,  and  terror  with  little  dan-  Even  this  circumstance  stem-  '<> 
ger.     To  see  the   highest  minds    thus  given  poor  Dryden  great  disturbs 
levelled  with  the  meanest  may  produce 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  349 

severe  reflections  on  the  duchess  of  Portsmouth  and  the 
earl  of  Rochester  ;  and  they,  suspecting  Dryden  to  be  the 
author  of  it,  hired  three  men  to  cudgel  him  ;  who,  as  Wood 
relates,  effected  their  business  as  he  was  returning  from 
Will's  coffee-house  through  Rose-street,  Covent-gardeu, 
to  his  own  house  in  Gerrard-street,  Soho,  at  eight  o'clock 
at  night,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1679.  In  1680  came 
out  an  English  translation  in  verse  of  Ovid's  epistles  by 
several  hands  :  two  of  which,  viz.  Canace  to  Macareus, 
and  Dido  to  ^Eneas,  were  translated  by  Dryden,  who  also 
wrote  the  general  preface ;  and  the  epistle  of  Helen  to 
Paris  by  Dryden  and  the  earl  of  Mulgrave. 

In  16S1  he  published  his  Absalom  and  Achitophel.  This 
celebrated  poem,   yvhich  was  at  first  printed  without  the 
author's  name,    is  a  severe  satire  on  the    contrivers  and 
abettors  of  the  rebellion  against  Charles  II.  under  the  duke 
of  Monmouth  ;    and,    under  the  characters  of   Absalom, 
Achitophel,  David  and   Zimri,  are  represented  the  duke 
of  Monmouth,   the  earl  of  Shaftesbury,  king  Charles,  and 
the  duke  of  Buckingham.     There  are  two  translations  of 
this  poem  into  Latin  ;  one  by  Dr.  Coward,   a  physician  of 
Merton   college   in   Oxford ;    another  by   Mr.  Atterbury, 
afterwards  bishop  of  Rochester,  both  published  in    1682, 
4to*.     Dryden  left  the  story  unfinished;  and  the  reason 
he  gives  for  so  doing  was,  because  he  could  not  prevail 
with  himself  to  shew  Absalom  unfortunate.     "  Were  I  the 
inventor,"  says  he,  "who  am  only  the  historian,   I  should 
certainly  conclude  the  piece  with  the  reconcilement  of 
Absalom  to  David.     And  who  knows,  but  this   may  come 
to  pass  ?  Things  were  not  brought  to  extremity,  where  I 
left  the  story  :  there  seems  yet  to  be  room  left  for  a  com- 
posure :   hereafter,  there  may  be  only  for   pity.     I  have 
not  so  much  as  an  uncharitable  wish  against  Achitophel  ; 
but  am  content  to  be  accused  of  a  good-natured  error,  and 
to  hope  with  Origen,  that  the  devil  himself  may  at  last  be 
saved.     For   which   reason,    in  this  poem,  he  is   neither 
brought  to  set  his  house  in  order,  nor  to  dispose  of  his 
person  afterwards."     A  second  part  of  Absalom  and  Achi- 
tophel was  undertaken  and  written  by  Tate,  at  the  request 

*  That  of  Coward,  however,  though  had  occasion  to  mention  those  versions, 

infinitely    inferior,    was  ^mistaken  for  till    the   publication    of    the    l>i- 

Atterbury's  by  Stackhouse,  and  after  epistolary     correspondence     by     Mr, 

kkn  by  every  subsequent  writer  wh»  Nichols  in  1733. 


350  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

and  under  the  direction  of  Dryden,  who  wrote  near  200 
lines  of  it  himself. 

The  same  year,  168  I  j  he  published  his  Medal,  a  satire 
against  sedition.  This  poem  was  occasioned  by  the 
striking  of  a  medal,  on  account  of  the  indictment  against 
the  earl  of  Shaftesbury  for  high-treason  being  found  igno- 
ramus by  the  grand  jury  at  the  Old  Bailey,  November 
1611,  for  which  the  whig-party  made  great  rejoicings  by 
ringing  of  bells,  bonfires,  &c.  in  all  parts  of  London.  The 
whole  poem  is  a  severe  invective  against  the  earl  of 
Shaftesbury  and  the  whigs ;  to  whom  the  author  addresses 
himself,  in  .a  satirical  epistle  prefixed  to  it,  thus  :  "  I  have 
one  favour  to  desire  of  you  at  parting,  that,  when  you 
think  of  answering  this  poem,  you  would  employ  the  same 
pens  against  it,  who  have  combated  with  so  much  success 
against  Absalom  and  Achitophel ;  for  then  you  may  assure 
yourselves  of  a  clear  victory  without  the  least  reply.  Rail 
at  me  abundantly  ;  and,  not  to  break  a  custom,  do  it  with- 
out wit. —  If  God  has  not  blessed  you  with  the  talent  of 
rhyming,  make  use  of  my  poor  stock  and  welcome  :  let 
your  verses  run  upon  my  feet  j  and  for  the  utmost  refuge 
of  notorious  blockheads,  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  of 
sense,  turn  my  own  lines  upon  me,  and,  in  utter  despair 
of  your  own  satire,  make  me  satirize  myself."  Settle 
wrote  an  answer  to  this  poem,  entitled  "  The  Medal  re- 
versed;" and  is  erroneously  said  to  have  written  a  poem 
called  "  Azariah  and  Hushal,"  against  "  Absalom  and 
Achitophel."  This  last  was  the  production  of  one  Pordage, 
a  dramatic  writer.  In  1682,  Dryden  published  a  poem, 
called  "Religio  Laici ;  or,  the  Layman's  Faith."  This 
piece  is  intended  as  a  defence  of  revealed  religion,  and  of 
the  excellency  and  authority  of  the  scriptures,  as  the  only- 
rule  of  faith  and  manners,  against  deists,  papists,  and  pres- 
byterians.  The  author  tells  us  in  the  preface,  that  it  was 
written  for  an  ingenious  young  gentleman,  his  friend,  upon 
his  translation  of  father  Simon's  "  Critical  History  of  the 
Old  Testament."  In  October  of  this  year,  he  also  pub- 
lished his  Mac  Flecnoe,  an  exquisite  satire  against  the  poet 
Shad  well. 

His  tragedy  of  the  "  Duke  of  Guise,"  much  altered, 
with  the  assistance  of  Lee,  appeared  again  in  168S,  dedi- 
cated to  Lawrence  earl  of  Rochester,  and  gave  great  offence 
to  the  whigs.  It  was  attacked  in  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  A 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  351 

Defence  of  the  charter  and  municipal  rights  of  the  city  of 
London,  and  the  rights  of  other  municipal  cities  and  towns 
of  England.  Directed  to  the  citizens  of  London.  By 
Thomas  Hunt."  In  this  piece,  Dryden  is  charged  with 
condemning  the  charter  of  the  city  of  London,  and  exe- 
cuting its  magistrates  in  effigy,  in  his  "  Duke  of  Guise  ;'* 
frequently  acted  and  applauded,  says  Hunt,  and  intended 
most  certainly  to  provoke  the  rahhle  into  tumults  and  dis- 
orders. Hunt  then  makes  several  remarks  upon  the  de- 
sign of  the  play,  and  asserts,  that  our  poet's  purpose  was 
to  corrupt  the  manners  of  the  nation,  and  lay  waste  their 
morals  ;  to  extinguish  the  little  remains  of  virtue  among  us 
by  bold  impieties,  to  confound  virtue  and  vice,  good  and 
evil,  and  to  leave  us  without  consciences.  About  the  same 
time  were  printed  also  "  Some  Reflections  upon  the  pre- 
tended Parallel  in  the  play  called  The  Duke  of  Guise  ;" 
the  author  of  which  pamphlet  tells  ns,  that  he  was  wearied 
with  the  dulness  of  this  play,  and  extremely  incensed  at 
the  wicked  and  barbarous  design  it  was  intended  for  ;  that 
the  fiercest  tories  were  ashamed  of  it  ;  and,  in  short,  that 
he  never  saw  any  thing  that  could  be  called  a  play,  more 
deficient  in  wit,  good  character,  and  entertainment,  than 
this.  In  answer  to  this  and  Hunt's  pamphlet,  Dryden 
published  "  The  Vindication  :  or,  The  Parallel  of  the 
French  holy  league  and  the  English  league  and  covenant, 
turned  into  a  seditious  libel  against  the  king  and  his  royal 
highness,  by  Thomas  Hunt  and  the  author  of  the  Reflec- 
tions, &c."  In  this  Vindication,  which  is  printed  at  the 
end  of  the  play,  he  tells  us  that  in  the  year  of  the  restora- 
tion, the  first  play  he  undertook  was  the  "  Duke  of  Guise," 
as  the  fairest  way  which  the  act  of  indemnity  had  then  left 
of  setting  forth  the  rise  of  the  late  rebellion  ;  that  at  first 
it  was  thrown  aside  by  the  advice  of  some  friends,  who 
thought  it  not  perfect  enough  to  be  published  ;  but  that, 
at  the  earnest  request  of  Mr.  Lee,  it  was  afterwards  pro- 
duced between  them;  and  that  only  the  first  scene,  the 
whole  fourth  act,  and  somewhat  more  than  half  the  fifth, 
belonged  to  him,  all  the  rest  being  Mr.  Lee's.  He  ac- 
quaints us  also  occasionally,  that  Mr.  Thomas  Shadwell, 
the  poet,  made  the  rough  draught  of  this  pamphlet  against 
him,  and  that  Mr.  Hunt  finished  it. 

In  1G34  he  published  a  translation  of  "  Maimbonrg's 
History  of  the  League  ;"  in  which  he  was  employed  by 
Charles  II.  on  account  of  the  pla'ui  parallel  between  the 


352  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

troubles  of  France  and  those  of  Great  Britain.  Upon  the 
death  of  this  monarch,  lie  wrote  his  "Threnodia  Augus- 
talis  :"  a  poem  sacred  to  the  happy  memory  of  that  prince. 
Soon  after  the  accession  of  James  II.  he  turned  Roman 
catholic  ;  upon  which  occasion,  Mr.  Thomas  Browne  wrote 
"  The  reasons  of  Mr.  Bayes's  changing  his  religion  consi- 
dered, in  a  dialogue  between  Crites  Eugenius  and  Mr. 
Bayes,  1688,"  4to  ;  and  also,  "The  late  converts  exposed  : 
or,  the  reasons  of  Mr.  Bayes's  changing  his  religion  con- 
sidered, in  a  dialogue;  part  the  second ;  1690,"  4to.  In 
1686  he  wrote  "A  defence  of  the  papers  written  by  the 
late  king  of  blessed  memory,  and  found  in  his  strong  box." 
This  was  written  in  opposition  to  Stillingfleet's  "  Answer 
to  some  papers  lately  printed,  concerning  the  authority  of 
the  catholic  church  in  matters  of  faith,  and  the  reformation 
of  the  church  of  England,  1686,"  4to.  He  vindicates  the 
authority  of  the  catholic  church,  in  decreeing  matters  of 
faith  upon  this  principle,  that  "  The  church  is  more  visible 
than  the  scripture,  because  the  scripture  is  seen  by  the 
church  ;"  and,  to  abuse  the  reformation  in  England,  he 
affirms,  that  "  it  was  erected  on  the  foundation  of  lust, 
sacrilege,  and  usurpation,  and  that  no  paint  is  capable  of 
making  lively  the  hideous  face  of  it."  He  affirms  likewise, 
that  "  the  pillars  of  the  church  established  by  law,  are  to 
be  found  but  broken  staffs  by  their  own  concessions  :  for, 
after  all  their  undertakings  to  heal  a  wounded  conscience, 
they  leave  their  proselytes  finally  to  the  scripture  ;  as  our 
physicians,  when  they  have  emptied  the  pockets  of  their 
patients,  without  curing  them,  send  them  at  last  to  Tun- 
bridge  waters,  or  the  air  of  Montpelier;  that  we  are  re- 
formed from  the  virtues  of  good  living,  from  the  devotions, 
mortifications,  austerities,  humility  and  charity,  which  are 
practised  in  catholic  countries,  by  the  example  and  pre- 
cept of  that  lean,  mortified,  apostle,  St.  Martin  Luther, 
&c."  Stillingrleet  hereupon  published  "  A  vindication  of 
the  Answer  to  some  late  papers,"  in  1687,  4to  ;  in  which 
he  treats  Dryden  with  some  severity  ;  "  If  I  thought," 
says  he,  "  there  was  no  such  thing  as  true  religion  in  the 
world,  and  that  the  priests  of  all  religions  are  alike,  I  might 
have  been  as  nimble  a  convert,  and  as  early  a  defender  of 
the  royal  papers,  as  any  one  of  these  champions.  For  why 
should  not  one,  who  believes  no  religion,  declare  for  any?" 
In  1687  he  published  his  "  Hind  and  Panther;  a  poem." 
It  is  divided  into  three  parts,  and  is  a  direct  defence  of 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  853 

the  Romish  church,  chiefly  by  way  of  dialogue  between  a 
hind,  who  represents  the  church  of  Rome,  and  a  panther, 
who  sustains  the  character  of  the  church  of  England. 
These  two  beasts  very  learnedly  discuss  the  several  points 
controverted  between  the  two  churches;  as  transubstan- 
tiation,  church-authority,  infallibility,  &c.  In  the  pre- 
face he  tells  us,  that  this  poem  "  was  neither  imposed  on 
him,  nor  so  much  as  the  subject  given  han  by  any  man. 
It  was  written,"  says  he,  "  durin;-  the  last  winter  and  the 
beginning  of  this  spring,  though  with  long  interruptions  of 
ill  health  and  other  hindrances.  About  a  fortnight  before 
I  had  finished  it.  his  majesty's  declaration  for  liberty  of 
conscience  came  abroad  ;  which  it  1  had  so  soon  expected, 
I  might  have  spared  myself  the  labour  of  writing  many 
things,  which  are  contained  in  the  third  part  of  it.  But 
I  was  always  in  some  hope  the  church  of  England  might 
have  been  persuaded  to  have  taken  off  the  penal  laws  and 
the  test,  which  was  one  design  of  the  poem  when  I  pro- 
posed to  myself  the  writing  of  it."  This  poem  was  im- 
mediately attacked  by  the  wits,  particularly  by  Montague 
(afterwards  earl  of  Halifax,)  and  Prior ;  who  joined  in 
writing  '•  The  Hind  and  Panther  transversed  to  the  story 
of  the  Country  Mouse  and  the  City  Mouse."  In  1688  he 
published  "  Britannia  Rediviva;"  a  poem  on  the  birth  of 
the  prince. 

He  was  supposed,  some  time  before  this,  to  have  been 
engaged  in  translating  Varillas's  History  of  Heresies,  but 
to  have  dropped  that  work  before  it  was  finished.  This 
we  learn  from  a  passage  in  Burnet's  "  Defence  of  the 
Reflections  on  the  ninth  book  of  the  first  volume"  of  that 
history  :  "  I  have  been  informed  from  England,"  says  the 
doctor,  "  that  a  gentleman,  who  is  famous  both  for  poetry 
and  several  other  things,  has  spent  three  months  in  trans- 
lating Mr.  Varillas's  history  ;  but  that,  as  soon  as  my  *  Re- 
flections' appeared,  he  discontinued  his  labour,  finding 
the  credit  of  his  author  was  gone.  Now,  if  he  thinks  it  is 
recovered  by  his  answer,  he  will  perhaps  go  on  with  his 
translation  ;  and  this  may  be,  for  aught  I  know,  as  good  an 
entertainment  for  him  as  the  conversation  he  has  set  on 
foot  between  the  hinds  and  panthers,  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  animals,  for  whom  Mr.  Varillas  may  serve  well  enough, 
as  an  author :  and  this  history  and  that  poem  are  sucb> 
extraordinary  things  of  their  kind,  that  it  will  be  but 
suitable  to  the  author  of  the  worst  poem  to  become  lik«- 

VOL.  XII.  A  A 


334  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

wise  the  translator  of  the  worst  history  that  the  age  has 
produced.  If  his  grace  and  his  wit  improve  both  propor- 
tional)] y,  we  shall  hardly  find  that  he  has  gained  much  by 
the  change  he  has  made,  from  having  no  religion  to  choose 
one  of  the  worst.  It  is  true,  he  had  somewhat  to  sink 
from  in  matter  of  wit;  but  as  for  his  morals,  it  is  scarce 
possible  for  him  to  grow  a  worse  man  than  he  was.  He 
bas  lately  wreaked  his  malice  on  me  for  spoiling  his  three 
months  labour;  but  in  it  he  has  done  me  all  the  honour 
that  any  man  can  receive  from  him,  which  is,  to  be  railed 
at  by  him.  If  I  had  ill  nature  enough  to  prompt  me  to 
wish-  a  very  bad  wish  for  him,  it  should  be,  that  he  would 
go  on  and  finish  his  translation.  By  that  it  will  appear, 
whether  the  English  nation,  which  is  the  most  competent 
judge  in  this  matter,  has,  upon  the  seeing  our  debate, 
pronounced  in  Mr.  Varilias's  favour  or  mine.  It  is  true, 
Mr.  Dryden  will  suffer  a  little  by  it ;  but  at  least  it  will 
serve  to  keep  him  in  from  other  extravagances  ;  and  if  he 
gains  little  honour  by  this  work,  yet  he  cannot  lose  so, 
much  by  it  as  he  has  done  by  his  last  employment."  This 
passage,  besides  the  information  which  it  affords,  shews 
the  opinion,  whether  just  or  not,  which  Burnet  entertained 
of  Dryden  and  his  morals. 

At  the  revolution  in  1688,  being  disqualified  by  having 
turned  papist,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  offices  of  poet- 
laureat  and  historiographer,  which  were  given  to  his  an- 
tagonist Shadwell.  The  earl  of  Dorset,  however,  though 
obliged,  as  lord-chamberlain,  to  withdraw  his  pension,  was 
so  generous  a  friend  and  patron  to  him,  that  he  allowed 
him  an  equivalent  out  of  his  own  estate.  This  Prior  tells 
us,  in  the  dedication  of  his  poems  to  lord  Dorset,  his 
descendant.  In  1688  also  he  published  the  "  Life  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier,"  translated  from  the  French  of  father  Do- 
minic Bouhours.  In  1690  he  produced  his  play  of  "  Don 
Sebastian."  In  1693  came  out,  in  folio,  a  translation  of 
"  Juvenal  and  Persius,"  in  which  the  first,  third,  sixth, 
tenth,  and  sixteenth  satires  of  Juvenal,  and  Persius  entire, 
were  done  by  Dryden,  who  prefixed  a  long  and  beautiful 
discourse,  by  way  of  dedication  to  the  earl  of  Dorset. 

In  1695,  while  employed  on  his  translation  of  Virgil, 
begun  in  1694,  he  published  a  translation,  in  prose,  of 
I)u  Fresnoy's  "  Art  of  Painting;"  the  second  edition  of 
which,  corrected  and  enlarged,  was  afterwards  published 
LH  1716.  It  is  dedicated  to  the  earl  of  Burlington  by 


DRYDEN.  355 

Richard  Graham,  esq.  who  observes  in  the  dedication,  that 
some  liberties  have  been  taken  with  this  excellent  transla- 
tion, of  which  he  gives  the  following  account :  "  The  mis- 
fortune that  attended  Mr.  Dryden  in  that  undertaking  was, 
that,  for  want  of  a  competent  knowledge  in  painting,  he  suf- 
fered himself  to  be  misled  by  an  unskilful  guide.  Mon- 
sieur de  Piles  told  him,  that  his  French  version  was  made 
at  the  request  of  the  author  himself;  and  altered  by  him, 
till  it  was  wholly  to  his  mind.  This  Mr.  Dryden  taking 
upon  content,  thought  there  was  nothing  more  incumbent 
upon  him  than  to  put  it  into  the  best  English  he  could,  and 
accordingly  performed  his  part  here,  as  in  every  thing 
else,  wilh  accuracy.  But  it  being  manifest  that  the  French 
translator  has  frequently  mistaken  the  sense  of  his  author, 
and  very  often  also  not  set  it  in  the  most  advantageous 
light;  to  do  justice  to  M.  du  Fresnoy,  Mr.  Jervas,  a  very 
good  critic  in  the  language,  as  well  as  in  the  subject  of  the 
poem,  has  been  prevailed  upon  to  correct  what  he  found 
amiss  ;  and  his  amendments  are  every-where  distinguished 
uith  proper  marks."  Dryden  tells  us,  in  the  preface  to 
the  "  Art  of  Painting,"  that,  when  he  undertook  this  work, 
he  was  already  engaged  in  the  translation  of  Virgil,  "  from 
whom,"  says  he,  "  I  only  borrowed  two  months."  This 
translation  was  published  in  1697,  and  has  passed  through 
numerous  editions  in  various  forms.  The  pastorals  are 
dedicated  to  lord  Clifford ;  and  Dryden  tells  his  lordship, 
that  "  what  he  now  offers  him,  is  the  wretched  remainder 
of  a  sickly  age,  worn  out  with  study,  and  oppressed  with 
fortune,  without  other  support  than  the  constancy  and  pa- 
tience of  a  Christian  ;"  and  he  adds,  "  that  he  began  this 
work  in  his  great  climacteric."  The  Life  of  Virgil,  which 
follows  this  dedication,  the  two  prefaces  to  the  Pastorals 
and  Georgics,  and  all  the  arguments  in  prose  to  the  whole 
translation,  were  given  him  by  friends  ;  the  preface  to  the 
Georgics,  in  particular,  by  Addison.  The  translation  of 
the  Georgics  is  dedicated  to  the  earl  of  Chesterfield  ;  and 
that  of  the  ^neis  to  the  earl  of  Mulgrave.  This  latter 
dedication  contains  the  author's  thoughts  on  epic  poetry, 
particularly  that  of  Virgil.  It  is  generally  allowed  that 
nis  translation  of  Virgil  is  excellent.  Pope,  speaking  of 
Dryden's  translation  of  some  parts  of  Homer,  says,  "  Had 
he  translated  the  whole  work,  I  would  no  more  have  at- 
tempted Homer  after  him,  than  Virgil ;  his  version  of  whom, 
notwithstanding  some  human  errors,  is  the  most  noble  and 

AA   2 


356  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

spirited  translation  I  know  in  any  language.'*  In  the  same 
year  he  published  his  celebrated  ode  of  "  Alexander's 
Feast,"  which  is  commonly  said  to  have  been  finished  in 
one  night ;  but,  according  to  Mr.  Malone,  occupied  him 
for  some  weeks. 

In  1699  he  entered  into  a  contract  with  Tonson,  the 
bookseller,  to  supply  him  with  10,000  verses,  which  pro- 
duced in  1700  his  "  Fables,  ancient  and  modern  ;"  trans- 
lated into  verse  from  Homer,  Ovid,  Boccace,  and  Chaucer. 
He  tells  us  in  the  preface  to  this  his  last  work,  that  "  he 
thinks  himself  as  vigorous  as  ever  in  the  faculties  of  his 
soul,  excepting  only  his  memory,  which,"  he  says,  "  is 
not  impaired  to  any  great  degree  ;"  and  he  was  then  sixty- 
eight  years  of  age.  For  this  labour  he  was  to  get  only 
30GJ.  out  of  which  250  guineas  were  paid  down,  and  he 
was  to  receive  the  remainder  on  the  appearance  of  a  second 
edition,  which  did  not  happen  till  thirteen  years  after  his 
death.  Besides  the  original  pieces  and  translations  hitherto 
mentioned,  he  wrote  many  other  things,  which  have  been 
several  times  published  in  the  "  Six  volumes  of  Miscel- 
lanies" under  his  name,  and  in  other  collections.  They 
consist  of  translations  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  poets ; 
epistles  to  several  .persons ;  prologues  and  epilogues  to 
various  plays  ;  elegies,  epitaphs,  and  songs.  In  1743  came 
out  in  two  volumes  12mo,  a  new  collection  of  our  author's 
poetical  works,  under  the  title  of  "  Original  Poems  and 
Translations,  by  John  Dry  den,  esq.  now  first  collected  and 
published  together ;"  that  is,  collected  from  the  "  Six 
volumes  of  Miscellanies"  just  mentioned.  The  editor  ob- 
serves, in  his  preface,  that  "  it  was  but  justice  to  the  pro- 
ductions of  so  excellent  a  poet,  to  set  them  free  at  last  from 
so  disadvantageous,  if  not  unnatural,  an  union  ;  an  union, 
which,  like  the  cruelty  of  Mezentius  in  Virgil,  was  no  less 
than  a  junction  of  living  and  dead  bodies  together." — "  It  is 
now  high  time,"  says  he,  "  that  the  partnership  should  be 
dissolved,  and  Mr.  Dryden  left  to  stand  upon  his  own 
bottom.  His  credit  as  a  poet  is  out  of  all  danger,  though 
the  withdrawing  his  stock  may  probably  expose  many  of 
of  his  copartners  to  the  hazard  of  a  poetical  bankruptcy." 
There  is  a  collection  of  our  author's  original  poems  and 
translations,  published  in  a  thin  folio,  1701  ;  but,  as  it 
does  not  contain  much  above  half  the  pieces,  so  it  does 
not  at  all  answer  the  design  of  this  collection ;  which, 
with  his  plays,  fables,  and  translations  of  Virgil,  JuvenaJ, 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  357 

and  Persius,  was  intended  to  complete  his  works  in  twelves. 
As  to  his  performances  in  prose,  besides  essays  and  pre- 
faces, some  of  which  have  been  mentioned,  he  wrote  the 
lives  of  Plutarch  anci  Lucian,  prefixed  to  the  transla- 
tions of  those  authors  by  several  hands  ;  "  The  Life  of  Po- 
lybius,"  before  the  translation  of  that  historian  by  sir 
Henry  Sheer ;  and  the  preface  to  the  "  Dialogue  con- 
cerning Women,"  by  William  Walsh,  esq. 

He  had  for  some  years  been  harassed  by  the  gravel  and 
the  gout;  and  in  December,  1699,  was  afflicted  with  an 
erysipelas  in  one  of  his  legs.  Having  recovered,  however, 
from  that  disorder,  he  was  sufficiently  free  from  any  com- 
plaint to  apply  again  to  his  studies;  but  he  was  confined 
to  his  house  by  the  gout  during  the  greater  part  of  March 
and  April ;  and  near  the  end  of  that  month,  in  conse- 
quence of  neglecting  an  inflammation  in  one  of  his  feet,  a 
mortification  ensued,  of  which  he  died,  after  a  very  short 
illness,  at  three  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning,  May  the 
1st,  1700. 

His  leg  having  become  mortified,  his  surgeon  recom- 
mended an  amputation  of  the  limb,  with  a  view  to  stop  the 
further  progress  of  the  disorder;  but  he  would  not  undergo 
the  operation,  saying,  that  as  by  the  course  of  nature  he 
had  not  many  years  to  live,  he  would  not  attempt  to  pro- 
long an  uncomfortable  existence  by  a  painful  and  uncertain 
experiment,  but  patiently  submit  to  death.  This  account, 
which  was  given  by  a  contemporary  writer,  not  long  after- 
wards, is  strongly  corroborated  by  the  unquestionable  tes- 
timony of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Creed,  his  kinswoman  ;  who  in- 
forms us,  that  he  received  the  notice  of  his  approaching 
dissolution  with  perfect  resignation  and  submission  to  the 
Divine  Will  ;  and  that  in  his  last  illness  he  took  the  most 
tender  and  affectionate  farewell  of  his  afflicted  friends,  "of 
which  sorrowful  number  she  herself  was  one."  Twenty- 
two  years  afterwards  this  very  respectable  lady,  who  was 
then  in  her  eightieth  year,  erected  a  monument  at  Tich- 
marsh,  in  honour  of  our  poet  and  his  parents,  on  which 
these  circumstances  so  much  to  his  honour  are  recorded. 
(See  CREED,  vol.  X.) 

Dr.  Johnson  conceived,  that  no  description  of  Dryden's 
person  had  been  transmitted  to  us ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
there  are  few  English  poets,  ot  whose  external  appearance 
more  particulars  have  been  recorded.  We  have  not  in- 
deed any  original  whole-length  portrait  of  him,  such  as 


355  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

that  very  curious  delineation  of  Pope,  with  which  we  have 
been  lately  gratified,  whence  a  more  perfect  notion  of  that 
poet's  external  appearance  may  be  obtained  than  from  all 
the  friendly  drawings  ot  Richardson  ;  yet  from  various  de- 
scriptions of  Dryden's  person  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
a  very  adequate  idea  of  it  may  be  formed.  He  was  cer- 
tainly a  short,  fat,  florid  man,  "  corpore  quadrato,"  as 
lord  Hailes  some  years  ago  observed  to  Mr.  Malone,  "  a 
description  which  ^neas  Sylvius  applied  to  James  the 
First  of  Scotland  "  The  same  gentleman  remarked,  that 
that  at  one  time  he  wore  his  hair  in  large  quantity,  and 
that  it  inclined  to  gray,  even  before  his  misfortunes;  a 
circumstance  which,  he  said,  he  had  learned  from  a  por- 
trait of  Dry  den,  painted  by  Kneller,  formerly  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  late  Mr.  James  West.  But  perhaps  his  lord- 
ship here  is  not  quite  accurate.  By  "  before  his  misfor- 
tunes" was  meant  before  the  Revolution ;  but  the  por- 
trait in  question  was  probably  painted  at  a  later  period. 
From  other  documents,  however,  it  appears  that  he  be- 
came gray  before  he  was  deprived  of  the  laurel.  In 
Riley's  portrait,  painted  in  1683,  he  wears  a  very  large 
wig  :  so  also  in  that  by  Closterman,  done  at  a  late  period. 
By  Tom  Brown  he  is  always  called  "  little  Bayes,"  and 
by  Rochester,  when  he  quarrelled  with,  and  wished  to  de- 
preciate him,  he  was  nick-named  "  poet  Squab."  The 
earliest  portrait  of  Dryden  hitherto  discovered  is  that  in 
the  picture  gallery,  Oxford,  but  the  painter  is  not  known. 
It  is  engraved  in  Mr.  Malone's  Life. 

He  married  the  lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  daughter  of  the 
earl  of  Berkshire,  who  died  in  June  or  July  1714,  after 
having  been  for  some  years  insane.  By  her  he  had  three 
sons,  Charles,  John,  and  Erasmus- Henry,  of  ail  whom  we 
shall  take  some  notice  hereafter.  There  are  some  circum- 
stances, relating  to  Dryden's  funeral,  recorded  in  Wil- 
son's memoirs  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Congreve,  which  have 
been  generally  credited.  It  is  said  that  the  day  after  his 
death,  Sprat,  bishop  of  Rochester  and  dean  of  Westmin- 
ster, sent  word  to  lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  his  widow,  that 
he  would  make  a  present  of  the  ground,  and  all  the  other 
abbey  fees.  Lord  Haliikx  likewise  sent  to  lady  Elizabeth, 
and  to  Mr.  Charles  Dryden  her  son,  offering  to  defray  the 
expences  of  our  poet's  funeral,  and  afterwards  to  bestow 
300l.  on  a  monument  in  the  abbey  ;  which  generous  offer 
from  both  was  accepted.  Accordingly,  on  the  Sunday 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  359 

following,  the  company  being  assembled,  the  corpse  was 
put  into  a  velvet  hearse,  attended  by  1 8  mourning  coaches, 
When  they  were  just  ready  to  move,  lord  Jefferu-s,  son  of 
the  chancellor  Jefferies,  with  some  of  his  rakish  com- 
panions, coining  by,  asked  whose  funeral  it  was ;  and, 
being  told  it  was  Mr.  Dry  den's,  he  protested,  tnat  ho 
should  not  be  buried  in  that  private  manner  ;  that  lie  would 
himself,  with  lady  Elizabeth's  leave,  have  the  honour  of 
his  interment,  and  would  bestow  1000/.  on  a  monument  in 
the  abbey  for  him.  This  put  a  stop  to  the  procession  ; 
and  Jefferies,  with  several  of  the  gentlemen  who  had 
alighted  from  the  coaches,  went  up  stairs  to  the  lady  , 
Elizabeth,  who  was  sick  in  bed.  Jefferies  repeated  the 
purport  of  what  he  had  said  below  ;  but  lady  Elizabeth  ab- 
solutely refusing  her  consent,  he  fell  on  his  knees,  vowii.g 
never  to  rise  till  his  request  was  granted.  The  la-.ly,  under 
a  sudden  surprise,  fainted  away  ;  and  lord  Jefferies,  pre- 
tending to  have  gained  her  consent,  ordered  the  body  to 
be  carried  to  Mr.  RussePs,  an  undertaker  in  Cheapside, 
and  to  be  left  there  till  further  orders.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  abbey  was  lighted  up,  the  ground  opened,  the  choir 
attending,  and  the  bishop  waiting  some  hours  to  no  pur- 
pose for  the  corpse.  The  next  day,  Mr.  Charles  Dryden 
waited  upon  lord  Halifax  and  the  bishop,  and  endeavoured 
to  excuse  his  mother,  by  relating  the  truth ;  but  they 
would  not  hear  of  any  excuse.  Three  days  after,  the  un- 
dertaker, receiving  no  orders,  waited  on  lord  Jetieries, 
who  turned  it  off  in  a  jest,  pretending,  that  those  who  paid 
any  regard  to  a  drunken  frolic  deserved  no  better ;  that  he 
remembered  nothing  at  all  of  the  matter  ;  and  that  they 
might  do  what  they  pleased  with  the  corpse.  Upon  this, 
the  undertaker  waited  on  the  lady  Elizabeth,  who  desired 
a  day  to  consider  what  must  be  done.  Mr.  Charles  Dry- 
den  immediately  wrote  to  lord  Jefferies,  who  returned  for 
answer,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  and  would  ba 
troubled  no  more  about  it.  Mr.  Dryden  applied  again  to 
lord  Halifax  and  the  bishop  of  Rochester,  who  absolutely 
refused  to  do  any  thing  in  the  affair.  In  this  distress,  Dr. 
Garth  sent  for  the  corpse  to  the  college  of  physic;  i'is,  and 
proposed  a  funeral  by  subscription ;  which  succeeding, 
about  three  weeks  after  Dryden's  decease,  Garth  pronoun- 
ced a  Latin  oration  over  his  body,  which  was  conveyed 
from  the  college,  attended  by  a  numerous  train  of  coaches, 
to  Westminster-abbey.  After  the  funeral,  Mr.  Charles 


360  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

Dryden  sent  lord  Jefteries  a  challenge,  which  was  not  ac- 
cepted ;  and,  Mr.  Dryden  publicly  declaring  he  would 
watch  every  opportunity  to  fight  him,  his  lordship  thought 
fit  to  leave  the  town  upon  it,  and  Mr.  Dryden  never  could 
meet  him  after.  Mr.  Malone,  however,  has  very  clearly 
proved  that  the  greater  part  of  all  this  was  a  fiction  by 
Mrs.  Thomas.  The  fact  is,  that,  on  May  1,  a  magnificent 
funeral  was  projected  by  several  persons  of  quality,  and 
the  body  was  in  consequence  conveyed  to  the  College  of 
Physicians,  whence,  after  Dr.  Garth  had  pronounced  a 
Latin  oration  in  his  praise,  it  was,  on  the  13th  of  May, 
conveyed  to  Westminster-abbey,  attended  by  above  one 
hundred  coaches. 

As  to  Dryden's  character,  it  has  been  treated  in  ex- 
tremes, some  setting  it  too  high,  others  too  low  ;  for  he 
was  too  deeply  engaged  in  party,  to  have  strict  justice 
done  him  either  way.  As  to  his  dramatic  works,  to  say 
nothing  more  of  the  Rehearsal,  we  6nd,  that  the  critics, 
his  contemporaries,  made  very  free  with  them  ;  and,  it 
must  be  confessed,  they  are  not  the  least  exceptionable  of 
his  compositions.  In  tragedy,  it  has  been  observed,  that 
he  seldom  touches  the  passions,  but  deals  rather  in  pompous 
language,  poetical  flights,  and  descriptions  ;  and  that  this 
was  his  real  taste,  appears  not  only  from  the  tragedies 
themselves,  but  from  two  instances  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Gildon.  The  first  is,  that  when  a  translation  of  Euripides 
was  recommended  to  him  instead  of  Homer,  he  replied, 
that  he  had  no  relish  for  that  poet,  who  was  a  master  of 
tragic  simplicity  :  the  other  is,  that  he  generally  expressed 
a  very  mean,  if  not  a  contemptible,  opinion  of  Otway, 
who  is  universally  allowed  to  have  succeeded  in  affecting  the 
passions;  though,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  M. 
Fresnoy,  he  speaks  more  favourably  of  that  poet.  Gildon 
ascribes  this  taste  in  Dryden  to  his  intimacy  with  French 
romances.  As  to  comedy,  he  acknowledges  his  want  of 
gem  us  for  it,  in  his  defence  of  the  "  Essay  on  Dramatic 
Poetry,"  prefixed  to  his  Indian  Emperor:  "  I  know,"  says 
he,  "  I  am  not  fitted  by  nature  to  write  comedy  ;  I  want 
that  gaiety  of  humour  which  is  required  in  it.  My  con- 
versation is  slow  and  dull;  my  humour  saturnine  and  re- 
served. In  short,  1  am  none  of  those  who  endeavour  to 
break  jests  in  company,  or  to  make  repartees.  So  that 
those  who  decry  my  comedies,  do  me  no  injury,  except 
it  be  in  point  of  profit :  reputation  in  them  is  the  last 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  361 

thing  to  which  I  shall  pretend."  But  perhaps  he  would 
have  wrote  better  in  both  kinds  of  the  drama,  had  not 
the  necessity  of  his  circumstances  obliged  him  to  con- 
form to  the  popular  taste  ;  and,  indeed,  he  insinuates  as 
much  in  the  epistle  dedicatory  to  the  Spanish  Friar :  "  I 
remember  some  verses  of  my  own  Maximin  and  Almanzor, 
which  cry  vengeance  on  me  for  their  extravagance.  All  I 
can  say  for  those  passages,  which  are,  I  hope,  not  many, 
is,  that  I  knew  they  were  bad  enough  to  please,  even  when 
I  writ  them.  But  I  repent  of  them  among  my  sins  ;  and 
if  any  of  their  fellows  intrude  by  chance  in  my  present 
writings,  I  draw  a  stroke  over  all  those  Dalilahs  of  the 
theatre,  and  am  resolved  I  will  settle  myself  no  reputation 
by  the  applause  of  fools.  It  is  not  that  I  am  mortified  to 
all  ambition  ;  but  I  scorn  as  much  to  take  it  from  half-witted 
judges,  as  I  should  to  raise  an  estate  by  cheatingfof  bubbles. 
Neither  do  I  discommend  the  lofty  style  in  tragedy,  which 
is  naturally  pompous  and  magnificent ;  but  nothing  is  truly 
sublime,  that  is  not  just  and  proper."  He  tells  us,  in  his 
preface  to  Fresnoy,  that  his  "  Spanish  Friar  was  given  to 
the  people  ;  and  that  he  never  wrote  any  thing  in  the  dra- 
matic way  to  please  himself,  but  his  Anthony  and  Cleo- 
patra." 

His  translations  of  Virgil,  Juvenal,  and  Persius,  and  his 
Fables,  were  more  successful,  as  we  have  observed  already. 
But  his  poetical  reputation  is  built  chiefly  upon  his  ori- 
ginal poems,  among  which  his  Ode  on  Saint  Caecilia's 
Day  is  justly  esteemed  one  of  the  most  perfect  pieces  in 
any  language.  It  has  been  set  to  music  more  than  once, 
particularly  in  the  winter  of  1735,  by  Handel;  and  was 
publicly  performed  with  the  utmost  applause,  on  the  theatre 
in  Covent-garden.  Congreve,  in  the  dedication  of  our 
author's  dramatic  works  to  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  has 
drawn  his  character  to  great  advantage.  He  represented 
him,  in  regard  to  his  moral  character,  in  every  respect  not 
only  blameless,  but  amiable;  and,  "  as  to  his  writings," 
says  he,  "  no  man  hath  written  in  our  language  so  much 
and  so  various  matter,  and  in  so  various  manners,  so  well. 
Another  thing  I  may  say  was  very  peculiar  to  him  ;  which 
is,  that  his  parts  did  not  decline  with  his  years,  but  that 
he  was  an  improving  writer  to  the  last,  even  to  near  se* 
venty  years  of  age  ;  improving  even  in  fire  and  imagina- 
tion, as  well  as  in  judgment;  witness  his  Ode  on  St.  Cae- 
cilia's Day,  and  his  Fables,  his  latest  performances.  He 


362  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

was  equally  excellent  in  verse  and  in  prose.  His  prose 
had  all  the  clearness  imaginable,  together  with  all  the 
nobleness  of  expression  ;  all  the  graces  and  ornaments 
proper  and  peculiar  to  it,  without  deviating  into  the  lan- 
guage or  diction  of  poetry.  I  have  heard  him  frequently 
own  with  pleasure,  that  if  he  had  any  talent  for  English 
prose,  it  was  owing  to  his  having  often  read  the  writings 
of  the  great  archbishop  Tillotson.  His  versification  and 
his  numbers  he  could  learn  of  nobody  ;  for  he  first  pos- 
sessed those  talents  in  perfection  in  our  tongue.  In  his 
poems,  his  diction  is,  wherever  his  subject  requires  it,  so 
sublimely  and  so  truly  poetical,  that  its  essence,  like  that 
of  pure  gold,  cannot  be  destroyed.  What  he  has  done  in 
any  one  species  or  distinct  kind  of  writing,  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  have  acquired  him  a  great  name.  If  he 
had  written  nothing  but  his  prefaces,  or  nothing  but  his 
songs  or  his  prologues,  each  of  them  would  have  entitled 
him  to  the  preference  and  distinction  of  excelling  in  his 
kind."  It  may  be  proper  to  observe,  that  Congreve,  in 
drawing  this  character  of  Dryden,  discharged  an  obliga- 
tion laid  on  him  by  our  poet,  in  these  lines : 

"  Be  kind  to  my  remains  :  and,  O  !  defend, 
Against  your  judgment,  your  departed  friend; 
Let  not  th1  insulting  foe  my  fame  pursue, 
But  shade  those  laurels  which  descend  to  you." 

Pope  had  a  high  opinion  of  Dryden.  His  verses  upon 
his  Ode  on  St.  Caecilia's  Day  are  too  well  known  to  need 
transcribing.  In  a  letter  to  Wycherley,  he  says,  "  It  was 
certainly  a  great  satisfaction  to  me,  to  see  and  converse 
with  a  man,  whom  in  his  writings  I  had  so  long  known 
with  pleasure  ;  but  it  was  a  very  high  addition  to  it,  to  hear 
you  at  our  very  first  meeting  doing  justice  to  your  dead 
friend  Mr.  Dryden.  I  was  not  so  happy  as  to  know  him  : 
Frrgtlium  tantum  vidi.  Had  I  been  born  early  enough, 
I  must  have  known  and  loved  him  ;  for  I  have  been  as- 
sured, not  only  by  yourself,  but  by  Mr.  Congreve  and 
sir  William  Trumball,  that  his  personal  qualities  were  as 
amiable  as  his  poetical,  notwithstanding  the  many  libel- 
lous misrepresentations  of  them  ;  against  which,  the  for- 
mer of  these  gentlemen  has  told  me  he  will  one  day  vin- 
dicate him."  But  what  Congreve  and  Pope  have  said  of 
Dryden,  is  rather  in  the  way  of  panegym1.  than  an  exact 
character  of  him.  Others  have  spoken  of  him  more  mo- 
derately, and  yet  have  probably  done  him  no  injustice. 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  36$ 

Thus  Felton  observes,  th^.t  "  he  at  once  gave  the  best 
rules,  and  broke  them  in  spite  of  his  own  knowledge,  and 
the  Rehearsal.  His  prefaces  are  many  of  them  admirable 
upon  dramatic  writings :  he  had  some  peculiar  notions,  which 
he  maintains  with  great  address  ;  but  his  judgment  in  dis- 
puted points  is  of  less  weight  and  value,  because  the  incon- 
stancy of  his  temper  did  run  into  his  thoughts,  and  mixed 
with  the  conduct  of  his  writings,  as  well  as  his  life."  Voltaire 
styles  him  "  a  writer  whose  genius  was  too  exuberant,  and 
not  accompanied  with  judgment  enough  ;  and  tells  us,  that 
if  he  had  writ  only  a  tenth  part  of  the  works  he  left  be- 
hind him,  his  character  would  have  been  conspicuous  in 
every  part ;  but  his  groat  fault  is,  his  having  endeavoured 
to  be  universal."  Dryden  has  made  no  scruple  to  dispa- 
rage himself,  where  he  thought  he  had  not  excelled. 
Thus,  in  his  dedication  of  his  Aurengzebe  to  the  earl  of 
Mulgrave,  speaking  of  his  writing  for  the  stage,  "  I  never 
thought  myself,"  says  he,  "  very  fit  for  an  employment 
where  many  of  my  predecessors  have  excelled  me  in  all 
kinds ;  and  some  of  my  contemporaries,  even  in  my  own 
partial  judgment,  have  outdone  me  in  comedy.  Some 
little  hopes  I  have  yet  remaining  (and  those  too,  consider- 
ing my  abilities,  may  be  vain),  that  I  may  make  the  world 
some  part  of  amends  for  many  ill  plays,  by  an  heroic 
poem,'*  of  which,  however,  he  did  not  execute  any  part. 
Upon  the  whole,  Mr.  Malone  appears  to  have  examined 
and  delineated  his  character  as  a  man,  with  most  truth  and 
precision  ;  and  as  a  poet  it  is  impossible  to  refer  to  any 
thing  equal  to  that  masterly  criticism  given  by  Dr.  Johnson 
in  his  life  of  our  poet. 

It  is  said,  that  he  had  once  a  design  of  taking  orders, 
but  was  refused*;  and  that  he  solicited  for  the  provost- 

*  The  malignity  which  Dryden  often  not  have  admitted,  and  such  as  may 
expressed  against  the  clergy  is  ira-  vitiate  light  and  unprincipled  minds, 
puted  by  Langhaiue  to  a  repulse  which  But  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing 
he  suffered  when  he  solicited  ordina-  that  he  disbelieved  the  religion  which 
tion  ;  but  he  "  denied  that  he  ever  de-  he  disobeyed.  He  forgot  his  duty  ra- 
signed  to  enter  into  the  church  ;  and  ther  than  disowned  it.  His  tendency 
such  a  denial,"  observes  Dr.  Johnson,  to  profaneness  is  the  effect  of  levity, 
"  he  would  not  have  hazarded,  if  he  negligence,  and  loose  conversation, 
could  have  been  convicted  of  falsehood,  with  a  desire  of  accommodating  him- 
Malevolence  to  the  Clergy,"  adds  the  self  to  the  corruption  of  the  times,  by- 
doctor,  "  is  seldom  at  a  great  distance  venturing  to  be  wicked  as  far  as  he 
from  irreverence  of  religion,  and  Dry-  durst.  When  he  professed  himself  a 
den  affords  no  exception  to  this  ob-  convert  to  Popery,  he  did  not  pretend 
f^rvatiou.  His  writings  exhibit  many  to  have  received  any  new  conviction 
passages,  which,  with  all  the  allow-  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Curis- 
ance  that  can  be  made  for  characters  tianity." 
and  occasions,  are  such  as  piety  would 


364  D  R  Y  D  E  N. 

ship  of  Eton-college,  but  failed  also  in  this.  This  we  have 
upon  the  authority  of  Thomas  Brown,  who,  in  "  The  late 
Converts  exposed,  or  the  reason  of  Mr.  Bayes's  changing 
his  religion,"  of  which  he  was  supposed  to  be  the  author, 
has  the  following  passage  in  the  preface  :  "  But,  prythee, 
why  so  severe  always  upon  the  priesthood,  Mr.  Bayes  ? 
You,  I  find,  still  continue  your  old  humour,  which  we  are 
to  date  from  the  year  of  Hegira,  the  loss  of  Eton,  or  since 
orders  were  refused  you."  Langbaine  likewise,  speaking 
of  our  author's  Spanish  Friar,  tells  us,  that  "  ever  since  a 
certain  worthy  bishop  refused  orders  to  a  certain  poet,  Mr. 
Dryden  has  declared  open  defiance  against  the  whole 
clergy  ;  and  since  the  church  began  the  war,  he  has  thought 
it  but  justice  to  make  reprisals  on  the  church." 

Of  recent  editions  of  his  works,  we  may  refer  principally 
to  the  Prose  Works,  by  Malone,  1800,  4  vols.  :  his  poeti- 
cal works,  with  notes  by  Warton,  and  edited  by  Mr.  Totld, 
1812,  4  vols.  8vo  ;  and  the  whole  works,  by  Mr.  Walter 
Scott,  1808,  18  vols.  8vo. 

Of  Dryden's  sons,  CHARLES,  the  eldest,    was  born   at 
Charlton,   Wiltshire,  and  educated  at  Westminster-schoolj 
and  King's-college,  Cambridge,  of  which  he  was  admitted  a 
member,' in  June   1683.     In  the  following  year  he  wrdte 
some  Latin  verses  addressed  to   lord  Roscommon,  which 
were  prefixed  to  that  nobleman's   "  Essay   on  Translated 
Verse:"  and   in    1685   contributed  a  Latin   poem   to  the 
Cambridge   Collection   of  Verses  published  on    the  death 
of  Charles  II.     In  Dryden's  "  Second   MisceUany"  pub- 
lished in  the  same  year,  we  find   another   Latin   poem  by 
him,    descriptive  of  lord  Arlington's  gardens.      He  also 
translated  the  seventh  satire  in  his  father's  Juvenal.    About 
1692  he  went   to  Italy,  and  was  so  well  recommended  to 
pope  Innocent  XII.  that  he  was  appointed  chamberlain  to 
his   household.      While  at   Rome,    he  wrote  a  poem  in 
English,  "  On  the  happiness  of  a  retired  life,"  published 
in  1694,  in  his  father's  "  Fourth  Miscellany."     He  is  sup- 
posed to  have  returned  to  England  about  1698,  and  after 
the  death  of  his  father,  administered   to  his  effects,  which 
probably  did  little  more  than  pay  his  debts.     In    the  fol- 
lowing year  Mr.  George  Granville  having  altered  Shak- 
speare's  "  Merchant  of  Venice"  to  a  drama,  which  he  en- 
titled "  The  Jew  of  Venice,"  he  gave  the  profits  of  that 
piece  to  Charles  Dryden ;  and  two  representations  of  it 
•were  performed  for  his  benefit,  a  proof  that  his  circum- 


D  R  Y  D  E  N.  365 

Stances  were  far  from  good.  A  few  years  afterwards,  un- 
fortunately attempting  to  swim  across  the  Thames,  near 
Datchet,  he  was  drowned,  and  was  buried  at  Windsor, 
August  20,  1704. 

JOHN  DRYDEN,  our  author's  second  son,  was  born  pro- 
bably in  1G67  or  1663,  and  educated  at  Westminster- 
school,  from  which  he  was  elected  to  Oxford,  but  instead 
of  being  matriculated  of  Christ-church,  was  placed  by  his 
father,  now  become  a  Roman  catholic,  under  the  private 
tuition  of  Obadiah  Walker,  master  of  University  college, 
a  concealed  papist.  It  is  supposed  that  he  went  to  Rome 
about  the  end  of  1692,  and  obtained  some  office  under  his 
brother  in  the  pope's  household.  Previously  to  his  leaving 
England,  he  translated  the  fourteentb  satire  for  his  father's 
Juvenal,  and  while  at  Rome,  wrote  a  comedy,  "  The  Hus- 
band his  own  Cuckold,"  which  was  acted  in  London,  and 
published  with  a  preface  by  his  father.  He  made  a  tour 
in  Sicily  and  Malta,  of  which  his  account,  after  remaining 
many  years  in  manuscript,  was  published  in  1776,  in  an 
3vo  pamphlet.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Rome  from  this 
excursion,  in  1701,  he  is  said  to  have  died  there  of  a 
fever. 

ERASMUS  HENRY,  Dryden's  third  son,  was  born  May  2, 
1669,  and  educated  at  the  Charter-house,  and,  like  his 
brothers,  went  to  Rome,  where  he  became  a  captain  of 
the  pope's  guards.  He  succeeded  to  the  title  of  baronet, 
by  the  death  of  sir  John  Dryden,  and  died  on  the  4th  of 
December,  1710.1 

DRYSDALE  (JOHN,  D.  D.)  a  distinguished  clergyman 
of  the  established  church  of  Scotland,  the  third  son  of  the 
rev.  John  Drysdale,  minister  of  Kirkaldy,  was  born  April 
29,  1718,  and  educated  there  in  classical  learning.  In 
1732,  he  was  sent  to  finish  his  studies  at  the  university  of 
Edinburgh;  and  in  1740,  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
presbytery  of  Kirkaldy,  was  several  years  assistant  minister 
of  the  collegiate  church  in  Edinburgh,  and  in  1748  was 
presented  to  the  church  of  Kirkliston.  After  residing 
there  for  fifteen  years,  he  was  presented  to  lady  Yester's 
church,  by  the  town-council  of  Edinburgh.  This  being 
the  first  instance  in  which  the  magistrates  of  that  city  had 
exercised  their  right  of  presentation,  which  was  thought 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Life  by  Dr.  Johnson  ;  and  by  Malone. — To  refer  to  notices 
a.nd  criticisms  on  Dryden,  would  be  to  refer  to  every  thins  that  has  been  vrritte* 
vu  Eiiijli.i,  poetry,  of  which  he  tvis  so  illuttri'ius  an  ornament. 


D  R  Y  S  D  A  L  E. 

to  reside  in  the  parishioners,  and  Mr.  Drysdale  being  sus- 
pected of  favouring  in  his  discourses  the  Arminian  tenets, 
a  very  common  objection  to  the  modern  church  of  Scot- 
land, a  formidable  opposition  was  made  to  his  institution  ; 
but  the  magistrates  proving  victorious,  he  obtained  a  settle- 
ment in  lady  Yester's  church.  The  sermons  he  preached 
there,  says  professor  Dalzel,  although  his  mode  of  delivery 
was  by  no  means  correct,  always  attracted  a  great  con- 
course of  hearers,  whom  he  never  failed  to  delight  and  in- 
struct by  an  eloquence  of  the  most  nervous  and  interesting 
kind.  His  natural  diffidence  for  some  prevented  his  ap- 
pearing as  a  speaker  in  the  ecclesiastical  judicatures  ;  but  he 
was  at  length  induced  to  co-operate  with  Dr.  Robertson,  in 
defence  of  what  was  termed  the  moderate  party  in  the  church 
of  Scotland.  In  1765,  the  university  of  Aberdeen,  unsolicited, 
conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  D,  D.  by  diploma,  and 
on  the  death  of  Dr.  Jardine,  he  was  preferred  to  the  church 
of  Tron,  and  appointed  a  king's  chaplain,  with  the  allow- 
ance of  one-third  the  emoluments  arising  from  the  deanery 
of  the  chapel  royal.  In  1773,  having  obtained  the  cha- 
racter of  an  able  and  impartial  divine,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  moderator  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  Scottish 
kirk  ;  "  the  greatest  mark  of  respect,"  observes  his  bio- 
grapher, "  which  an  ecclesiastical  commonwealth  can  be- 
stow." In  1784  lie  was  re-elected,  by  a  great  majority,  to 
the  same  dignity.  In  May,  17s8,  he  appeared  at  the 
general  assembly,  and  the  first  day  acted  as  principal  clerk, 
but  was  taken  ill,  and  died  on  the  16th  of  June  following, 
aged  seventy  years.  His  general  character  was  that  of  be- 
tievolence  and  inflexible  integrity.  His  candour  obtained 
him  matij  friends ;  and  even  such  as  were  of  different 
sentiments  in  church  affairs,  and  held  different  religious 
tenets,  esteemed  the  man,  and  with  these  he  kept  up  a 
friendly  intercourse.  "  Indeed,"  adds  the  professor,  "  ne- 
ver any  man  more  successfully  illustrated  what  he  taught 
by  his  own  conduct  and  manners."  His  reputation  as  a 
preacher  was  very  great ;  and  on  an  occasional  visit  he 
made  to  London,  Mr.  Strahan,  the  late  printer,  endea- 
voured to  persuade  him  to  publish  a  volume  of  sermons. 
On  his  return  to  Scotland  he  began  a  selection  for  the  pur- 
pose, but  his  modesty  hindered  his  proceeding,  and  in- 
duced him,  finally,  to  relinquish  the  plan.  After  his  death, 
his  son-in-law,  the  late  professor  Dalzel,  who  h;,d  the  in- 
spection of  his  manuscripts,  rnadi^  a  selection  of  Lis  *er- 


D  R  Y  S  D  A   L  E.  367 

mons,  and  published  them  in  two  8vo  volumes,  with  bio- 
graphical anecdotes  of  his  life,  which  were  published  also 
in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh.1 

DUAIiKN  (FRANCIS),  professor  of  civil  law  at  Bourges, 
was  born  at  St.  Brien,  a  city  of  Bretagne,  in  France,  1509. 
He  was  the  son  of  John  Duaren,  who  exercised  a  place  of 
judicature  in  Bretagne  ;  in  which  place  he  succeeded  his 
father,  and  performed  the  functions  of  it  for  some  time. 
He  read  lectures  on  the  Pandects,  at  Paris,  in  1536;  and, 
among  other  scholars,  had  three  sons  of  the  learned  Bu- 
daeus.  He  was  sent  for  to  Bourges  in  1538,  to  teach  civil 
law,  three  years  after  Alciat  had  retired,  but  quitted  his 
place  in  1548,  and  went  to  Paris,  being  very  desirous  to 
join  the  practice  to  the  theory  of  the  law.  He  accordingly 
attended  the  bar  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  but  conceived 
an  unconquerable  aversion  to  the  chicanery  of  the  court, 
and  fortunately  at  this  time  advantageous  offers  were  made 
him  by  the  duchess  of  Berri,  sister  of  Henry  II.  which  gave 
him  a  favourable  opportunity  to  retire  from  the  bar,  and  to 
resume  with  honour  the  employment  he  had  at  Bourges. 
He  returned  to  his  professorship  of  civil  law  there,  in  1551 ; 
and  no  professor,  except  Alciat,  had  ever  so  large  a  sti- 
pend in  the  university  as  himself,  nor  more  reputation, 
being  accounted  the  first  of  the  French  civilians  who 
cleared  the  civil-law-chair  from  the  barbarism  of  the  glos- 
sators,  in  order  to  introduce  the  pure  sources  of  the  ancient 
jurisprudence.  It  \vas  however  his  failing  to  be  unwilling 
to  share  this  honour  with  any  person  ;  and  he  therefore 
viewed  with  an  envious  eye  his  colleague  Eguinard  Baron, 
who  blended  likewise  polite  literature  with  the  study  of 
the  law.  This  jealousy  prompted  him  to  write  a  book,  in 
which  he  endeavoured  to  lessen  the  esteem  the  world  had 
for  his  colleague,  yet,  as  if  ashamed  of  his  weakness,  after 
the  death  of  Baron,  he  shewed  himself  one  of  the  most 
zealous  to  immortalize  his  memory7,  and  erected  a  monu- 
ment to  him  at  his  own  expence.  He  had  other  colleagues, 
who  revived  his  uneasiness  ;  and  Duaren  may  serve  as  an 
example  to  prove  that  some  of  the  chief  miseries  of  human 
life,  which  we  lament  so  much,  and  are  so  apt  to  charge 
on  the  nature  and  constitution  of  things,  arise  merely  from 
»ur  own  ill-regulated  passions. 

}   i-  raious  and  Transactions  a.*  above,   vol.  III. 


368  D  U  A  R  E  N. 

He  died  at  Bourses  in  1559,  without  having  ever  mar- 
ried. He  had  great  learning  and  judgment,  but  so  bad  a 
memory,  that  lie  was  obliged  always  to  read  his  lectures 
from  his  notes.  Although  a  protestant,  lie  never  had  the 
courage  to  separate  from  the  church  of  Home.  His  treatise 
of  benefices,  published  in  15 JO,  rendered  him  suspected 
of  heresy,  and  Baudouin,  with  whom  he  had  a  controversy, 
accused  him  of  being  a  prevaricator  and  dissembler,  which, 
however,  appears  to  have  bev:n  unjust. 

A  collection  of  his  won.s  was  made  in  his  life-time,  and 
printed  at  Lyons  in  1554  ;  but  after  his  death,  another 
edition,  more  complete,  was  published  in  1579,  under  the 
inspection  of  Nicholas  Cisner,  who  had  been  his  scholar,  and 
was  afterwards  professor  of  civil  law  at  Heidelberg.  Whe- 
ther this,  or  the  edition  afterwards  printed  in  1592,  con- 
tains the  same  number  of  pieces,  we  have  not  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining.  His  principal  works  are:  1.  "  Com- 
mentaria  in  varies  titulos  digesti  &.  codicis."  2.  "  Dispu- 
tation um  anniversariarum  libri  dno."  3.  "  De  jure 
accrescendi  libri  duo."  4.  "  De  ratione  docendi  discen- 
dique  juris."  5.  "  De  jurisdictione  &  imperio."  6.  "  Apo- 
logia adversus  Eguinarium  Baronem."  7.  "  De  plagiariis." 
This  Bayle  calls  "  a  curious  treatise,  but  too  short  for  so 
copious  a  subject."  8.  "  In  consuetudines  feudorum  com- 
mentarius."  9.  "  De  sacris  ecclesiae  ministeriis  ac  bene- 
ficiis."  10.  "  Pro  libertate  ecclesiae  Gallicanrc  adversus 
artes  Romanas  defensio."  This  piece  prejudiced  the  court 
of  Rome  against  him,  and  procured  it  a  place  in  the  Index 
Expurgatorius.  11.  "  Epistola  ad  Sebast.  Albespinam, 
regis  Galliee  oratorem."  12.  "  Epistola  de  Francisco  Bal- 
duino."  13.  "  Defensio  adversus  Balduini  sycophante 
maledicta."  * 

DUBOIS  (CHARLES  FRANCIS),  a  French  ecclesiastic  of 
considerable  fame,  was  born  Sept.  1661,  at  the  chateau 
Dubos,  near  the  town  of  Blesle,  in  Auvergne,  descended 
from  a  family  allied  to  many  considerable  personages  in 
that  province.  After  having  studied  with  much  reputation 
and  rapid  progress  in  the  classics,  philosophy,  and  divinity, 
he  took  his  degrees  at  the  college  of  Sorbonne,  and  was 
appointed  by  the  bishop  of  Lucon,  principal  archdeacon, 
and  confidential  grand  vicar  of  that  see.  After  the  death 
of  this  patron,  he  was  elected  dean,  which  office  he  filled 

1  G^n.  Diot. — Moreri. — rreberi  Tlieatnim. — Blfmat's  Cens\ira. 


D  U  B  O  I  S.  369 

with  great  credit  until  his  death,  Oct.  3,  1724,  which  was 
much  lamented  by  his  friends  and  by  the  poor.  His  chief 
publications  form  the  continuation  of  the  "  Conferences 
de  Lu£on"  of  which  the  abbe  Louis  had  published  5  vols. 
12mo,  in  1685.  To  those  Dubois  added  seventeen  more, 
on  baptism,  confirmation,  the  eucharist,  &c,  and  left  ma- 
terials for  still  farther  additions.  He  also  wrote  the  life  of 
his  patron,  Barillon,  bishop  of  Lugonj  which  was  published 
in  1700,  12IB0.1 

DUBOS  (JOHN  BAPTIST),  an  eminent  French  writer  and 
critic,  secretary,  and  one  of  the  forty  members  of  the 
French  academy,  censor-royal,  &c.  was  born  at  Beauvais, 
in  December,  1670.  After  some  elementary  education  at 
home,  he  came  to  Paris  in  1686,  and  pursuing  his  studies, 
took  his  bachelor's  degree  in  divinity  in  1691.  One  of  his 
uncles,  a  canon  of  the  cathedral  of  Beauvais,  being  at- 
tacked by  a  dangerous  illness,  resigned  his  canonry  to  him 
in  1695,  but  on  his  recovery  chose  to  revoke  his  resigna- 
tion. The  nephew  appears  to  have  felt  this  and  other  dis- 
appointments in  his  view  of  promotion  so  keenly,  as  to 
determine  to  change  his  profession.  He  accordingly  left 
Beauvais  in  the  last-mentioned  year,  returned  to  Paris, 
and  soon  was  distinguished  as  a  man  of  abilities.  The 
same  year  he  acquired  a  situation  in  the  office  for  foreign 
affairs,  and  became  patronized  by  M.  de  Torcy,  by  whose 
means  he  accompanied  the  French  plenipotentiaries  to 
Ryswick,  in  1696,  where  peace  was  concluded.  After 
his  return  to  France,  he  was  sent  to  Italy  in  1699,  although 
without  an  ostensible  character,  to  negociafce  some  affairs 
of  importance  in  the  Italian  courts,  which  occupied  him 
until  1702.  Some  time  after,  he  went  to  England,  as 
charge  d'affaires,  and  while  the  war  occasioned  by  the  con- 
test about  the  crown  of  Spain  was  at  its  height,  and  had 
involved  all  Europe,  he  was  the  only  minister  France  had 
at  the  court  of  St.  James's,  where  he  resided  without  rank 
or  character.  He  then  went  to  the  Hague,  and  to  Brussels, 
and  at  this  latter  place  wrote  the  manifesto  of  the  elector 
of  Bavaria,  which  did  him  so  much  creJ.it.  In  1707  we 
find  him  at  Neufchatel,  and  in  1710  at  Gertruydenburgh, 
and  he  appears  to  have  had  a  considerable  hand  in  the 
treaties  of  peace  concluded  at  Utrecht,  Baden,  and  Ras- 

1  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist,  in  Bos. 

VOL.  XII.  BB 


D  U  B  O  S. 

tadt.  All  these  services  were  recompensed  in  1705,  by 
the  priory  of  Veneroles,  and  in  1714  by  a  canoiiry  of  the 
church  of  Beauvais.  Having  been  employed  in  other  state 
affairs  by  the  regent  and  by  cardinal  Dubois,  he  was  re- 
warded in  1716  by  a  pension  of  2000  livres,  and  in  1723 
was  promoted  to  the  abbey  of  Notre-Dame  de  Ressons, 
near  Beauvais.  As  it  was  now  his  intention  to  execute 
the  duties  of  these  preferments,  he  received  in  1724  the 
orders  of  subdeacon  and  deacon^  and  was  about  to  have 
taken  possession  of  his  canonry,  when  he  was  seized  with 
a  disorder  at  Paris,  which  proved  fatal  March  23,  1742. 
In  1720  he  was  elected  into  the  French  academy,  and  in 
1723  was  appointed  their  secretary. 

His  works,  which  procured  him  a  very  high  reputation 
in  France,  were  published  inxhe  following  order :  1.  "  His- 
toire  des  quatre  Gordiens,  prouvee  et  illustree  par  les 
medailles,"  Paris,  1695,  12mo,  in  which  he  proves,  con- 
trary to  the  common  opinion,  that  there  was  a  fourth  Gor- 
dianus,  the  son  of  the  younger  Gordianus  of  Africa ;  but 
this  produced  two  answers,  in  which  his  opinion  was  at- 
tacked. 2.  "  Animadversiones  ad  Nicolai  Bergerii  librog 
de  publicis  et  militaribus  imperii  Romani  viis,"  Utrecht 
and  Leyden,  1699.  3.  "  Les  interets  de  PAngleterre,  mal 
entendiis  dans  la  guerre  presente,"  Amst.  1704,  of  which 
there  have  been  several  editions,  but  it  appears  to  have 
been  better  relished  in  France  than  in  England ;  it  con- 
sists of  many  melancholy  prophecies  respecting  England, 
one  of  which  only,  the  separation  of  the  American  colonies 
from  the  mother  country,  which  he  hints  at,  has  been  ful- 
filled. 4.  "  Histoire  de  la  ligue  de  Cambrai,  faite  Tan 
1508,  centre  la  republique  de  Venise,"  Paris,  1709,  2  vols. 
12mo,  and  reprinted  in  1728.  5.  "  Reflections  critiques 
sur  la  Poesie  et  la  Peinture,"  Paris,  1719,  2  vols.  12mo, 
and  often  reprinted  in  3  vols.  and  translated  into  English. 
This  work,  on  which  the  abbe"  Dubos's  reputation  now 
principally  rests,  contains  many  useful  remarks,  in  a  style 
peculiarly  agreeable,  but  his  taste  has  been  frequently  at- 
tacked, and  his  enthusiasm  for  the  arts  doubted.  Voltaire 
gave  him  the  praise  of  having  seen,  heard,  and  reflected 
upon  the  fine  arts,  and  he  must  be  allowed  to  be  upon 
some  topics  an  elegant  writer,  and  an  ingenious  reasoner  ; 
but,  with  regard  to  the  subject  of  music,  both  his  preju- 
dices and  his  ignorance  are  visible.  He  not  only  deter- 
mines, says  Dr.  Burney,  that  the  French  and  Fleming* 


D  U  B  O  S.  37i 

cultivated  music  before  the  Italians ;  but,  wholly  unac- 
quainted with  the  compositions  of  other  parts  of  Europe, 
asserted  that  there  was  no  music  equal  to  that  of  Lulli,  only 
known  and  admired  in  France.  And  where,  adds  the  doc- 
tor, will  he  be  believed,  except  in  that  kingdom,  when  he 
says  that  foreigners  allow  his  countrymen  to  understand 
time  and  measure  better  than  the  Italians  ?  He  never  loses 
an  opportunity  of  availing  himself  of  the  favourable  opi- 
nions of  foreigners  in  behalf  of  French  music,  against  that 
of  other  parts  of  Europe.  Not  only  Guicciardini,  but  Ad- 
dison,  Gravina,  and  Vossius,  all  equally  unacquainted  with 
the  theory,  practice,  or  history  of  the  art,  and  alike  de- 
prived of  candour  by  the  support  of  some  favourite  opi- 
nion or  hypothesis,  are  pressed  into  the  service  of  his 
country.  If  when  D'Alembert  wrote  his  Eulogy,  he  could 
say  that  Dubos  was  one  of  those  men  of  letters  who  had 
more  merit  than  fame,  the  converse  of  the  proposition  is 
now  nearer  the  truth,  and  yet  the  merit  of  having  produced 
a  very  agreeable  book  may  be  allowed  him  ;  and  a  book,  a 
great  deal  of  which  will  contribute  to  form  a  just  taste  on 
those  subjects  with  which  he  is  really  acquainted.  6. 
"  Histoire  critique  de  1'etablissment  de  la  monarchic  Fran- 
£oise  dans  les  Gaules,"  Paris,  1734,  3  vols.  4to.  Profiting 
by  some  criticisms  on  this  work  from  the  pen  of  M.  Hoff- 
man, professor  of  history  at  Wittemberg,  he  left  for  pub- 
lication a  corrected  edition,  which  appeared  in  1743,  2 
vols.  4to.  Besides  these,  he  published  a  translation  in 
French  prose,  of  part  of  Addison's  Cato,  and  some  dis- 
courses held  in  the  French  academy.1 

DU  BOURG  (ANNE  or  ANNAS),  one  of  the  martyrs  to 
the  cause  of  the  protestant  religion  in  France,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  was  a  native  of  Auvergne,  sou  to  Stephen 
du  Bourg,  comptroller  general  of  the  customs  in  Langue- 
doc,  and  brother  to  Anthony  du  Bourg,  president  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris,  and  afterwards  chancellor  of  France. 
He  was  born  in  1521,  designed  for  the  church,  and  or- 
dained priest ;  but  embracing  the  protestant  religion,  was 
honoured  with  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  learning,  especially  in  the  law,  which  he  taught  at 
Orleans  with  much  reputation,  and  was  appointed  coun- 
sellor-clerk to  the  parliament  of  Paris  in  October  1557. 
In  this  high  station,  he  declared  himself  the  protector  of 

1  Moreri.— Eulogy  by  D'Alembert.— Diet.  Hist.— Barney's  History  »f  Mu- 
sic, vol.  I!. 

B  B   2 


D  U     BOURG. 

the  protestants,  and  endeavoured  either  to  prevent  or 
soften  the  punishments  inflicted  upon  them.  This  alarmed 
some  of  Henry  II. 's  counsellors,  who  advised  that  monarch 
to  get  rid  of  the  protestants,  and  told  him  that  he  should 
begin  by  punishing  those  judges  who  secretly  favoured 
them,  or  others  who  employed  their  credit  and  recom- 
mendations to  screen  them  from  punishment.  They  like- 
wise suggested  that  the  king  should  make  his  appearance 
unexpectedly  in  the  parliament  which  was  to  be  assembled 
on  the  subject  of  the  Mercurials,  or  Checks,  a  kind  of  board 
of  censure  against  the  magistrates  instituted  by  Charles 
VIII.  and  called  Mercurials  from  the  day  on  which  they 
were  to  be  held  (Wednesday).  The  king  accordingly  came 
to  parliament  in  June  1559,  when  Du  Bourg  spoke  with 
great  freedom  in  his  defence,  and  went  so  far  as  to  attack 
the  licentious  manners  of  the  court ;  on  which  the  king 
ordered  him  to  be  arrested.  On  the  19th  he  was  tried, 
and  declared  a  heretic  by  the  bishop  of  Paris,  ordered  to 
be  degraded  from  the  character  of  priest,  and  to  be  deli- 
vered into  the  hand  of  the  secular  power  ;  but  the  king'* 
death,  in  July,  delayed  the  execution  until  December, 
*vhen  he  was  again  condemned  by  the  bishop  of  Paris,  and 
cue  archbishop  of  Lyons,  his  appeals  being  rejected  by  the 
parliament.  Frederick,  elector  Palatine,  and  other  pro- 
testant  princes  of  Germany,  solicited  his  pardon,  and  pro- 
bably might  have  succeeded,  had  it  not  been  for  the  as- 
sassination, at  this  time,  of  the  president  M  in  art,  whom 
Du  Bourg  had  challenged  on  his  trial ;  and  it  was  not 
therefore  difficult,  however  unjust,  to  persuade  his  perse- 
cutors that  he  had  a  hand  in  this  assassination.  He  was 
accordingly  hanged,  and  his  body  burnt  Dec.  2O,  1559; 
leaving  behind  him  the  character  of  a  pious  and  learned 
man,  an  upright  magistrate,  and  a  steady  friend.  At  his 
execution  he  avowed  his  principles  with  great  spirit ;  and 
the  popish  biographers  are  forced  to  allow  that  the  firm- 
ness and  constancy  shown  by  him  and  others,  about  the 
same  time,  tended  only  to  "  make  new  heretics,  instead  of 
intimidating  the  old."1 

DUBRAW,  or  DUBRAVIUS  SCALA  (JOHN),  bishop 
of  Olmutz  in  Moravia,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  was  bora 
at  Piltzen  in  Bohemia,  and  died  Sept.  6,  1553,  with  the 
reputation  of  a  pious  and  enlightened  prelate.  The  func- 

1  Moreri  and  Diet.  Hist,  in  Bourg. 


D  U  B  R  A  W.  373 

lions  of  the  episcopate  did  not  prevent  him  from  being 
ambassador  in  Silesia,  afterwards  in  Bohemia,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  chamber  instituted  for  trying  the  insurgents 
who  had  been  concerned  in  the  troubles  of  Smalkalde. 
Dubraw  is  the  author  of  several  works  :  the  principal  of 
which  is  a  History  of  Bohemia  in  33  books ;  executed  with 
fidelity  and  accuracy.  The  best  editions  are  those  of  1575, 
with  chronological  tables;  and  that  of  1688,  at  Francfort, 
augmented  with  the  history  of  Bohemia  by  ./Eneas  Sylvius. 
The  first  edition  of  1552  is  uncommonly  rare,  as  a  small 
number  only  were  printed  for  distribution  among  the 
author's  friends. l 

JDUBY  (PETER  ANCHER  TOBIESEN),  an  eminent  anti- 
quary and  medailist,  was  born  in  1721  at  Housseau,  in  the 
canton  of  Soleure  in  Switzerland,  whence,  at  nine  years  of 
age,  he  was  sent  to  Denmark,  and  entered  soon  after  as  a 
student  in  the  university  of  Copenhagen.  Having  com- 
pleted his  stud'es  in  that  seminary,  he  repaired  to  France, 
which  he  considered  from  that  moment  as  his  adopted 
country,  and  entered  into  a  Swiss  regiment,  in  the  service 
of  it.  In  his  military  capacity  his  conduct  was  such  as  to 
merit  and  receive  the  esteem  of  his  superior  officers.  At 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  he  received  two  musket-shots,  but 
still  remained  in  his  station,  and  could  not  be  prevailed 
upon  to  leave  the  field  of  action,  until  his  leg  and  part  of 
his  thigh  had  been  carried  off  by  a  cannon-ball.  Being 
thus  rendered  unfit  for  service,  he  was  obliged  to  take 
refuge  in  the  hospital  for  invalids,  where  he  first  resolved 
to  extend  his  knowledge  by  cultivating  foreign  languages. 
After  an  obstinate  pursuit  of  his  object,  which  occupied  all 
his  thoughts,  and  occasioned  several  journies  among  the 
northern  nations,  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 
proficiency  in  this  favourite  study,  he  arrived  at  such  a 
degree  of  eminence,  as  justly  to  merit  the  office  of  inter- 
preter to  the  royal  library  for  the  English,  Dutch,  German, 
and  Flemish,  as  well  as  the  Swedish,  Danish,  and  Russian 
languages.  He  fulfilled  the  duties  of  this  important  sta- 
tion with  so  much  probity  and  exactness,  that  the  council 
of  the  admiralty  appointed  him  to  occupy  the  same  func- 
tions in  the  maritime  department;  and,  during  the  thirty- 
two  years  in  which  he  filled  this  office,  he  gave  repeated 
proofs  of  his  integrity  and  disinterestedness. 

1  Baron  Bora's  Effigies  Viror.  erud.  Bohemia). — Moreri. — Clement  Bibl.  Cu- 
rieuse. 


$74  D  U  B  Y. 

Possessing  a  mind  equally  unclouded  by  ambition  and 
the  love  of  pleasure,  he  employed  all  his  leisure  hours  in 
the  study  of  coins  and  medals,  in  which  he  acquired  great 
proficiency.     He   began    with  considering  and  collecting 
such  as  had  been  struck  during  sieges,  and  in  times  of 
necessity  ;  a  pursuit  analogous  to  his  taste,  and  to  the  pro- 
fession to  which  his  early  life  had  been  devoted.     Having 
completed  this  task,  he  undertook  to  form  and  to  publish 
a  more   complete  collection   of  the  different  species  of 
money  struck  by  the  barons  of  France,  than  any  that  had 
hitherto  appeared.     In  this,  which  may  be  called  a  na- 
tional work,  not  content  with  consulting  all  the  authors 
who  had  treated  on  the  subject,  he  also  searched  a  num- 
ber of  different  cabinets,  on  purpose  to  verify  the  original 
pieces,  and  to  satisfy  himself  as  to  their  existence  and 
authenticity.     But  while  occupied  in  drawing  up  an  ac- 
count of  the  coins  of  the  first,  second,  and  third  race  of 
the  kings  of  France,  he  was  snatched  from  his  favourite 
avocations  by  the  hand  of  death,  Nov.  19,  1782,  when  his 
family  were  left  to  mourn  the  loss  of  a  good  husband  and 
father,  society  to  regret  an  estimable  and  a  modest  man, 
and  the  sciences  to  lament  an  able  and  an  indefatigable 
investigator.     In   1790,  the  works  he  had  finished  were 
published  in  a  splendid  form  in  3  vols.  imperial  4to,  with 
many  plates,  at  Paris,  under  the  title,  "  The  Works  of 
the  late  Mr.  P.  A.  T.  Duby,  &c."  containing  in  vol.  I.  a 
general  collection  of  pieces  struck   during  sieges,  or  in 
times  of  necessity ;  and  in  vols.  II.  and  III.  a  treatise  on 
the  money  coined  by  the  peers,  bishops,  abbots,   &c.  of 
France.     The  coins  in  these  volumes  are  admirably  exe- 
cuted, and  the  whole  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  author's  skill 
in  antiquities  and  general  knowledge  of  every  branch  con- 
nected with  his  subject. l 

DUC,  or  FRONTON.  See  FRONTON, 
DUC  ^NICHOLAS  LE),  a  French  ecclesiastic  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  was  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Rouen,  and 
vicar  of  St.  Lawrence  in  that  city,  where  his  talents  and 
religious  conduct  being  conspicuous,  notwithstanding  his 
modesty,  he  was  appointed  to  the  curacy  of  Trouville  in 
Caux,  which  he  would  have  declined,  had  not  the  lord  of 
that  parish,  and  the  curate  of  St.  Lawrence,  represented  to 
bun  the  great  need  there  was  of  a  diligent  and  well-in-? 

1  Works  as  above.— -Anal.  Rev.  vol.  XI, 


D  U  C.  375 

formed  ecclesiastic  in  that  situation,  not  only  to  recover 
the  inhabitants  from  their  extreme  ignorance  of  religion, 
but  to  inspire  the  neighbouring  curates  with  a  disposition 
for  employing  their  time  to  the  advantage  of  their  flocks. 
M.  le  Due  succeeded  in  these  respects  beyond  expectation ; 
but,  after  having  done  all  the  good  he  could  in  his  cure, 
which  he  called  his  mission,  left  it  to  the  great  regret  of 
his  parishioners,  and  went  to  Paris,  where  he  was  obliged 
to  accept  the  vicarship  of  St.  Paul,  out  of  respect  to  M. 
Gueret,  who  succeeded  M.  Bourret,  and  had  drawn  him 
to  that  parish.  In  this  situation  he  laboured  with  good 
success  during  fifteen  years,  but  being  interdicted  by  M. 
de  Vintimelle,  1731,  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  some 
of  the  decrees  of  the  church,  he  retired  to  the  parish  of 
St.  Severin,  and  there  died,  May  3,  1744.  An  abridg- 
ment of  his  life  appeared  in  1745,  at  Paris,  12mo,  in  which 
the  following  works  are  attributed  to  him  :  "  L'Anne'e  Ec- 
clesiastique,"  15  vols.  12mo;  an  "Imitation,  with  Re- 
flexions, Exercises,  and  Prayers,"  12mo;  a  translation  of 
cardinal  Bona's  "  Way  to  Heaven,  and  shortest  Way  to  go 
to  God,"  12mo;  the  translation  of  several  hymns  in  the 
Paris  Breviary  ;  and  part  of  the  translation  of  M.  de  Thou, 
1 6  vols.  4to. ! 

DUCANGE.     See  FRESNE. 

DUCAREL  (ANDREW  COLTEE),  an  eminent  English 
civilian  and  antiquary,  was  born  in  1713  in  Normandy; 
whence  his  father,  who  was  descended  from  an  ancient 
family  at  Caen  in  that  province,  came  to  England,  soon 
after  the  birth  of  his  second  son  James,  and  resided  at 
Greenwich.  The  early  rudiments  of  instruction  he  pro- 
bably received  in  his  own  country.  In  1729,  being  at  that 
time  a  scholar  at  Eton,  he  was  three  months  under  the 
care  of  sir  Hans  Sloaue,  on  account  of  an  accident  which 
deprived  him  of  the  sight  of  one  eye.  In  1731,  he  was 
admitted  a  gentleman-commoner  of  St.  John's  college,  Ox- 
ford; proceeded  LL.  B.  June  1,  1738,  and  LL.  D.  Oct. 
21,  1742;  became  a  member  of  the  college  of  Doctors 
Commons  in  November,  1743;  and  married,  in  1749, 
Susanna ,  a  worthy  woman,  who  had  been  his  ser- 
vant; and  who  survived  him  till  Oct.  6,  1791,  when  she 
died  in  an  advanced  age. 

Though  disappointed  in  his  wishes  of  entering  into  holy 

1  L'Avocat's  Diet  Hist. 


D  U  C  A  R  Z  L. 

orders,  he  became  intimately  connected  with  the  church 
He  was  elected  commissary  or  official  of  the  peculiar  and 
exempt  jurisdiction  of  the  collegiate  church  or  free  chapel 
of  St.  Katharine,  near  the  Tower  of  London,  1753;  was 
appointed  commissary  and  official  of  the  city  and  diocese 
of  Canterbury,  by  archbishop  Herring,  in  December,  1758 ; 
and  of  the  subdeanries  of  South  Mailing,  Pagham,  and 
Terring,  in  Sussex,  by  archbishop  Seeker,  on  the  death 
of  Dr.  Dennis  Clarke,  in  1776.  He  was  elected  F.  A.  S. 
Sept.  22,  1737,  and  was  one  of  the  first  fellows  of  the 
society  nominated  by  the  president  and  council  on  its  in- 
corporation 1755.  He  was  also  elected  Aug.  29,  1760, 
member  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  at  Cortona;  on 
which  occasion  he  sent  them  a  Latin  letter  drawn  up  by 
his  friend  the  late  rev.  Philip  Morant.  He  was  admitted 
F.  R.  S.  Feb.  18,  1762  ;  became  an  honorary  fellow  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Cassel,  by  diploma,  dated  in 
November,  1778  ;  and  of  that  of  Edinburgh  in  1781.  In 
1755,  he  solicited  the  place  of  sub-librarian  at  the  Museum, 
in  the  room  of  Mr.  Empsom  ;  but  it  was  pre-engaged. 

The  doctor's  first  publication,  though  without  his  name, 
was  "  A  Tour  through  Normandy,  described  in  a  letter  to 
a  friend,"  1754,  4to.     This  tour  through  part  of  his  native 
country  was  undertaken,  in  company  with  Dr.  Bever,  in 
the  summer  of  1752  ;  and  his  account  of  it,   considerably 
enlarged,  was  re-published  under  the  title  of  "  Anglo-Nor- 
man Antiquities  considered,    in  a  Tour  through  part  of 
Normandy,  by   Dr.  Ducarel,  illustrated   with   27   copper- 
plates,  1767,"   fol.  inscribed   to  Dr.  Lyttelton,  bishop  of 
Carlisle,  then  president  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.    His 
lordship  had  first  remarked,    1742,  the  difference  between 
the  mode  of  architecture   used  by  the  Normans  in  their 
buildings,  and  that  practised  by  the  contemporary  Saxons 
in  England  ;  and  the  doctor's  observations,  actually  made 
on  the  spot  ten  years  afterward,  confirmed  the  rules  then 
laid  down.     This  ancient  dependance  of  the  English  crown, 
with  the  many  memorials  in   it  by  the  English,  was  a  fa- 
vourite object  of  his  contemplation.     Its  coinage  was  his 
next  research ;  and  he  published   "  A  series  of  above  200 
Anglo-Gallic  or  Norman  and  Aquitaine  Coins  of  the  an- 
cient kings  of  England,  exhibited  in  sixteen  copper-plates, 
and  illustrated  in  twelve  letters,  addressed  to  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries  of  London,  and  several  of  its  members;  to 
which  is  added,  a  map  of  the  ancient  dominions  of  the 


D  U  C  A  R  E  L.  377 

Icings  of  England  and  France,  with  some  adjacent  coun- 
tries, 1757,"  4to.  His  portrait,  engraved  by  Perry,  from 
a  painting  by  A.  Soldi,  1746,  was  first  prefixed  to  this 
work,  which  was  the  result  of  his  acquaintance  with  i\l.  de 
Boze,  keeper  of  the  French  king's  medals,  and  secretary 
of  the  academy  of  inscriptions  and  belles  lettres.  (See 
BOZE).  In  this  undertaking-  the  doctor  found  himself  se- 
conded by  sir  Charles  Frederick,  who  engraved  all  the 
Aquitaine  coins  in  his  possession,  in  36  quarto  plates,  but 
without  any  description  or  letter-press,  and  intended  only 
for  private  use,  being  little  known  before  their  circulation 
on  his  decease. 

Dr.  Ducarel  had  some  view  to  forming  a  series  of  English 
medals,  which,  by  admitting  such  as  have  been  struck 
abroad  relative  to  the  history  of  this  kingdom,  he  thought 
could  be  carried  beyond  the  conquest,  provided  the  medals 
proved  genuine.  But  when  he  engaged  Francis  Perry  to 
•engrave  a  series,  of  which  the  late  Mr.  Hollis  gave  the  out- 
line, he  began  no  earlier  than  Henry  VIII.  and  closed  it 
with  James  I.  in  ten  plates.  Three  supplemental  ones 
were  afterwards  published  of  the  same  period.  Mr.  Hollis 
intended  it  should  be  more  extensive,  by  taking  in  the 
Roman  medals :  he,  however,  assisted  Perry  in  his  own. 
way.  It  was  taken  up  by  Mr.  Snelling,  who  did  not  pub- 
lish it  in  Mr.  Hollis's  life-time. — Mr.  Snelling's  being  a 
posthumous. publication,  there  is  no  letter-press  to  accom- 
pany his  33  plates,  which  reach  from  the  conquest  to  1742. 
It  will  be  easily  seen  that  the  medals  of  the  first  five  kings 
are  by  Dassier.  Another  work  which  the  doctor  patronized 
was  the  "  Series  of  ancient  Windows,"  engraved  by  Fran- 
cis Perry,  from  the  rude  sketches  of  Aubrey  in  his  MS 
collections,  from  a  transcript  made  by  Mr.  Ames  of  an 
abstract  of  Aubrey's  four  volumes  of  collections,  taken  by 
Mr.  Hutchins  for  his  private  use,  from  the  larger  work  in, 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Awnsham  Churchill,  of  Henbury.  In 
1760  he  printed,  for  private  use,  in  4to,  an  account  of  his 
friend  Browne  Willis,  read  at  the  Society  of  Antiquaries 
that  year.  A  thick  quarto  volume  of  Dr.  Willis's  letters  to 
Dr.  Dncarel  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Nichols. 

A  question  being  started  by  the  hon.  Daines  Barrington, 
concerning  trees  indigenous  to  Great  Britain,  in  the  "  Phi- 
losophical Transactions,"  and  the  chesnut,  elm,  Him1,  and 
sycamore,  box,  abele,  and  yew,  accounted  non-indigenous; 
the  doctor  undertook  the  defence  of  the  first  of  these  trees, 


378  D  U  C  A  R  E  L. 

and  to  prove  it  a  native  here ;  in  which  he  was  supported 
\fy  his  antiquarian  friends  Thorpe  and  Hasted,  who,  as 
Kentishinen,  seern  to  have  thought  themselves  more  par- 
ticularly interested  in  the  dispute.  His  and  their  letters 
on  the  subject  were  printed  in  the  "  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions," vol.  LX1.;  and  Mr.  Harrington,  in  the  next  arti- 
cle, gave  up  the  controversy,  and  Dr.  Ducarel  received 
great  congratulations  on  his  victory.  His  account  of  the 
early  cultivation  of  botany  in  England,  and  more  particu- 
larly of  John  Tradescant,  a  great  promoter  of  that  science, 
and  of  his  monument  and  garden  at  Lambeth,  appeared 
originally  in  the  "Philosophical  Transactions;"  whence 
it  is  copied,  in  the  "  History  of  Lambeth,"  with  several 
improvements,  communicated  by  the  doctor  to  Mr.  Nichols. 
Dr.  DucarePs  letter  to  Gerard  Meerman,  grand  pensioner 
at  the  Hague,  on  the  dispute  concerning  Corsellis,  as  the 
first  printer  in  England,  read  at  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
1760,  and  translated  into  Latin  by  Dr.  Musgrave,  with 
Mr.  Meerman's  answer,  were  published  in  the  second  vo- 
lume of  Meerman's  "  Origines  Typographies,  1765,"  and, 
with  a  second  letter  from  Mr.  Meerman,  were  given  to  the 
public  by  Mr.  Nichols  in  a  Supplement  to  his  learned  part- 
ner's "Two  Essays  on  the  Origin  of  Printing,  1776." 
Upon  printing  the  new  edition  of  bishop  Gibson's  "  Co- 
dex," at  the  Clarendon  press,  1761,  the  doctor  collated 
the  MS  collections  of  precedents  annexed  to  it  with  the 
originals  at  Lambeth,  and  elsewhere ;  in  return  for  which, 
at  his  own  desire,  the  delegates  of  the  press  presented  him 
with  two  copies  of  the  new  edition  handsomely  bound. 
From  the  time  of  Dr.  Ducarel's  appointment  to  be  keeper 
of  the  library  at  Lambeth,  his  pursuits  took  a  different  turn 
— to  the  ecclesiastical  antiquities  of  this  kingdom,  and 
more  particularly  to  those  of  the  province  of  Canterbury, 
for  which  he  was  so  well  supplied  with  materials  from  that 
library.  In  1761  he  circulated  printed  proposals  for  pub- 
lishing a  general  repertory  of  the  endowments  of  vicarages, 
for  the  service  both  of  vicars  and  their  parishioners,  as 
nothing  conduces  so  much  to  ascertain  their  mutual  rights 
as  ancient  original  endowments,  which  are  to  be  found  in 
the  registries  of  the  bishop  or  dean  and  chapter  of  the  dio- 
cese, or  in  the  chartularies  and  register  books  of  religious 
houses.  He  had  proceeded  so  far  as  to  set  down,  in  alpha- 
betical order,  the  name  and  date  of  every  endowment  in 
the  registers  of  the  see  of  Canterbury  ;  and  all  such  as  he 


D  U  C  A  R  E  L.  373 

couM  discover  in  the  public  libraries,  or  in  printed  books. 
He  therefore  next  solicited  the  like  communications  from 
the  other  diocesans,  or  from  possessors  of  ancient  records; 
and  subjoined  a  specimen  of  his  method,  and  a  list  of  the 
endowments  already  discovered,     in  this  inquiry  the  assist- 
ance he  received  was  very  considerable,  and  it  was  at  one 
time  in  contemplation  to  print  an  account  of  all  these  seve- 
ral registers,  in  a  volume  of  his  epistolary  correspondence 
with  some  of  the  first  characters  in  literature,  accompanied 
with  several  valuable  antiquarian   tracts   collected  by  Dr. 
Ducarei.     The  proposal  for  publishing  the  general  reper- 
tory of  endowments  of  vicarages,  originally  circulated,  with 
a  specimen  annexed,  in  a  single  sheet,  4to,   dated  Dec.  3, 
1761,   was  prefixed  (with  a  new  date,  Dec.  23,    1762)  to 
"  A  Repertory  of  the  Endowments  of  Vicarages  in   the 
Diocese  of  Canterbury,  1763,"  4to,  printed  for  the  benefit 
of  the  charity-school  at  Canterbury ;  of  which  Mr.  Gough 
had  the  doctor's  copy,  with  considerable  additions  in  MS. 
by  him,  which  were  all  incorporated  into  a  second  editiou 
in  8vo,  1782;  to  which  were  added,   endowments  of  vicar- 
ages in  the  diocese  of  Rochester.     In  a  letter  to  the  rev, 
Mr.  Cole,  of  Milton,  1757,  he  says,  "  I  hope,  within  this 
year,  to  have  about  twelve  dioceses  ready  for  the  press ;" 
and  in  another,  to  the  rev.  Dr.  Cox  Macro,    1763,  he  tells 
him  he  had  eleven  other  dioceses  then  ready.     In  1768  he 
appears  to  have  entertained  thoughts  of  going  to  press  with 
these  collections.     In  1763  he  drew  up  an  account  of  the 
MSS.  in  the  Norfolk  library  belonging  to  the  royal  society, 
amounting  to  563,  including  45  then  first  catalogued.    On 
this  occasion  he  was  of  a  committee  with  lord  Charles 
Cavendish  and  the  late  Dr.  Birch.     Jn  the  same  year  he 
was  appointed  by  the  lords  commissioners  of  the  Treasury, 
at  the  head  of  whom  Mr.  Grenville  then  was,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  sir  Joseph  Ayloffe,  bart.  and  Mr.  Astle,  to  digest 
and  methodize  the  records  of  the  state  paper  office  at 
Whitehall ;   and   afterwards   those   in   the   augmentation- 
ofh'ce.     A  calendar  of  the  records   of  the  latter,  in  two 
volumes,  folio,  was  purchased  at  his  sale  for  the  Bodleian 
library.     In  1766,  he  communicated  to  the  society  of  an- 
tiquaries a  paper  on  Bezants;  which  bishop  Lyttleton,  in 
a  letter  to  him,  styled  '*  curious  and  elaborate." 

The  share  he  took  in  the  Rowleian  discovery  and  con- 
troversy, of  which  he  entertained  what  is  now  the  general 
opinion,  may  be  seen  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol. 


330  D  U  C  A  R  E  L. 

LVI.  pp.  361,  362,  461 — 464,  544—547,  530,  859  ;  where 
is  printed,  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Chapman,  rector 
of  Weston  near  Bach,  bishop  Percy,  Mr.  Barrett,  the 
historian  of  Bristol,  whose  credulity  in  these  matters  was 
notorious,  and  Mr.  Whitaker.  In  1776  was  printed,  for 
private  use,  "  A  list  of  various  editions  of  the  Bible 
and  parts  thereof,  in  English,  from  1526  to  1776,"  in  a 
single  sheet,  8vo;  and  an  improved  edition,  1778,  at  the 
expence  of  archbishop  Cornwallis.  This  little  tract  owed 
its  rise  to  a  list  of  English  Bibles  copied  from  one  compiled 
Ly  Mr.  Ames,  from  1526  to  1757,  presented  by  Dr.  Gif- 
ford  to  the  Lambeth  library.  It  was  completed  by  Dr. 
Ducarel  from  his  own  observations,  and  the  later  disco- 
veries of  his  learned  friends,  Dr.  Percy,  bishop  of  Dro- 
niore,  and  Mr.  Tutet.  Mr.  Nichols  also,  and  Mr.  Herbert, 
editor  of  the  new  edition  of  Ames's  "  Typographical  An- 
tiquities," contributed  not  a  few  articles  from  their  own 
collections.  The  account  of  Dr.  Stukeley  and  his  writings 
prefixed  to  the  second  volume  of  his  Itinerary,  published 
1776,  was  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Ducarel,  who  also  prepared 
an  epitaph  for  him. 

The  doctor  gave  a  MS  abstract  of  the  large  history  of 
the  Benedictine  abbey  of  Bee  in  Normandy,  drawn  up  by 
Dom  John  Bourget  (see  BOURGET),  monk  of  that  house, 
and  F.  A.  S.  of  London,  to  Mr.  Nichols,  who  printed  it  in 
1771',  8vo,  with  an  appendix  of  original  deeds;  and  who 
likewise  printed,  in  the  same  year,  in  two  volumes,  8vo. 
"  Some  account  of  the  Alien  Priories,  and  of  such  lands 
as  they  are  known  to  have  possessed  in  England  and 
Wales,"  collected  by  John  Warburton,  esq.  Somerset  he- 
rald, and  Dr.  Ducarel  (who  did  not,  however,  at  the  time, 
permit  his  name  to  be  mentioned)  ;  and  considerably  aug- 
mented by  Mr.  Gough  and  some  other  learned  friends  of 
the  publisher ;  to  which  was  prefixed,  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the  seven  Norman  cathedrals,  with  very  neat  prints 
of  them,  The  very  useful  and  excellent  "•  Collection  of 
Royal  and  Noble  Wills,"  from  the  conqueror  to  Henry  VII. 
printed  by  Mr.  Nichols  in  1780,  was  given  to  the  world  in 
consequence  of  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  Ducarel ;  from 
whose  stores  the  far  greater  part  of  the  materials  was  pur- 
chased by  the  printer  at  a  very  considerable  price. 

Of  all  the  honours  Dr.  Ducarel  enjoyed,  none  gave  him 
greater  satisfaction  than  the  commissariate  of  St.  Katha- 
rine's, a  place  to  which  he  has  done  due  honour  in  "  The 


D  U  C  A  R  E  L.  38t 

History  of  the  Koyal  Hospital  and  Collegiate  church  of  St. 
Katharine,  near  the  Tower  of  London,  from  its  foundation, 
in  1273,  to  the  present  time,  1782,"  4to,  with  seventeen 
plates.  This  history  was  originally  compiled  by  the  doctor 
for  the  use  of  her  present  majesty,  to  whom  a  copy  of  it 
was  presented  in  MS.  a  short  time  after  her  accession  to  the 
patronage  of  this  collegiate  church,  the  only  ecclesiastical 
preferment  in  the  gift  of  the  queen  consort  of  England. 
On  a  thorough  repair  of  this  curious  old  church  in  1778, 
an  empty  vault  was  discovered  in  the  chance.1,  of  a  size 
that  would  hold  two  coffins,  and  no  more.  This  spot  the 
doctor  claimed  in  virtue  of  his  office  ;  and  has  often  pointed 
out  to  his  friends,  as  a  resting-place  for  his  ashes  and  those 
of  his  lady;  and  the  remains  of  both  have  been  actually 
there  deposited.  Two  additional  plates  to  the  history  of 
St.  Katharine's,  representing  the  curious  grotesque  carvings 
under  the  old  stalls  there,  were  engraved  a  little  before 

7  O 

his  death,  at  his  particular  request,  and  were  given  to  the 
public  in  1790,  with  a  short  appendix  to  that  history,  in, 
the  "  Bibliotheca  Topographica  Britannica,  No.  LII."  In 
1783,  lie  published,  as  No.  XII.  of  Bibliotheca  Topogra- 
pica  Britannica,  "  Some  account  of  the  Town,  Church, 
and  Archiepiscopal  Palace  of  Croydon,  in  the  county  of 
Surrey,  from  its  foundation  to  1783,"  4tor  originally  drawn 
up  by  him  in  1754,  at  the  request  of  archbishop  Herring. 
He  also  drew  up  in  the  "  Bibliotheca  Topographica  Bri- 
tannica, No.  XXVII,"  "  The  History  and  Antiquities  of 
the  Archiepiscopal  Palace  of  Lambeth,  from  its  foundation 
to  the  present  time,  1785,  4to,"  which  was  dedicated,  by 
permission,  to  archbishop  Moore ;  and,  in  1786,  he  con- 
tributed largely  to  "  The  History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
parish  of  Lambeth,  in  the  county  of  Surrey;  including 
biographical  anecdotes  of  several  eminent  persons ;  com- 
piled from  original  records,  and  other  authentic  sources  of 
information."  Some  additions  to  this  history  were  also,  in 
1790,  printed  in  the  same  collection. 

His  memoirs  of  archbishop  Hutton  and  his  family,  fairly 
written,  were  purchased  at  his  sale,  by  the  rev.  Dr.  Lort, 
for  the  Hutton  family.  In  May  1757  he  was  appointed  to 
the  place  of  librarian  at  Lambeth  (to  which  a  salary  of  30/. 
per  annum  is  annexed)  under  archbishop  Hutton  ;  and  the 
catalogues  of  that  valuable  collection  are  not  a  little  bene- 
fited by  his  diligence  and  abilities.  The  catalogue  begun 
by  bishop  Gibson,  while  librarian  here,  and  continued  by 


382  D  U  C  A  R  E  L 

Dr.  Wilkins  with  the  greatest  minuteness,  was  perfected 
by  him  to  his  own  time;  a  distinct  catalogue  made  of  the 
books  of  archbishop  Seeker,  who  expended  above  300/.  in 
arranging  and  improving  the  MS  library  and  printed  books 
here ;  and  another,  in  three  volumes  folio,  of  the  pam- 
phlets and  tracts  bound  up  by  the  direction  of  archbishop 
CornwaLlis  ;  and  of  the  library  of  MSS.  the  catalogue  be- 
gun by  Dr.  Wilkins,  720,  and  continued  by  succeeding 
librarians  to  No.  888,  he  extended  to  No.  1147,  in  two 
volumes.  In  1757,  he  addressed  to  archbishop  Seeker  a 
letter  concerning  the  first  edition  of  archbishop  Parker's 
valuable  book,  "  De  Antiquitate  Britannicae  Ecclesiae," 
now  in  the  MS  library  at  Lambeth,  No.  959,  giving  an 
account  of  a  great  many  ancient  deeds,  MS  notes,  &c.  &c. 
contained  therein.  This  letter  is  printed  at  large  in  the 
appendix  to  his  "  History  of  Lambeth  Palace." 

He  was  engaged  also  in  arranging  and  indexing  above 
30  folio  volumes  of  leases,  papers,  &c.  and  such  was  his 
assiduity  in  whatever  he  undertook,  that,  besides  the  fair 
copy  of  the  index  by  him  taken  of  all  the  Lambeth  re- 
gisters, and  the  general  index  which  he  made  to  them,  he 
reserved  for  himself  another,  which  at  his  sale  became  the 
property  of  Mr.  Gough,  and  at  the  sale  of  the  latter  was 
bought  for  the  British  Museum.  It  contains  in  48  volumes 
folio,  neatly  bound,  an  account  of  every  instrument  relative 
to  the  see,  province,  and  diocese  of  Canterbury,  from  Pe- 
cham  to  Herring  ;  and,  with  a  great  variety  of  other  mate- 
rials amassed  by  the  doctor,  may  be  justly  styled  a  fund  of 
ecclesiastical  antiquities  for  that  province  in  particular,  and 
for  the  kingdom  at  large.  In  this  laborious  undertaking 
he  was  materially  assisted  by  the  industry  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Howe-Mores  ;  by  Mr.  Hall,  his  predecessor  in  the  office  of 
librarian  ;  and  by  Mr.  Pouncey,  who  for  many  years  was 
his  assistant,  as  clerk  and  deputy  librarian.  Dr.  Ducarel 
had  an  intention  of  publishing  his  abstract  of  archbishop 
Pecham's  register  ;  and  the  rough  draught  of  a  Latin  title, 
with  a  preface  or  dedication  to  archbishop  Herring,  together 
with  a  copy  of  the  abstract,  and  various  notes  by  Mr.  Mores, 
came  to  Mr.  Gough  by  purchase,  at  Mr.  Mores' s  sale. 

Dr.  Ducarel's  great  researches  into  antiquities  occa- 
sioned his  assistance  to  be  courted  on  many  publications, 
particularly  that  of  Dr.  Burton's  "  Monasticon  Ebora- 
cense."  He  also  was  a  candidate  for  the  employment  of 
arranging  Mr.  Bridges's  Northamptonshire  papers,  with  the 


D  U  C  A  R  E  L.  383 

late  rev.  Peter  Whalley,  and  with  the  late  rev.  Mr.  Buckler, 
of  All-souls  college.  A  catalogue  of  the  MSS.  was  sent 
him  ;  and  the  general  sense  of  the  committee  was  in  favour 
of  Mr.  Buckler;  but  at  the  meeting,  on  the  ballot,  Mr. 
Whalley  had  live  votes,  Mr.  Buckler  four,  and  Dr.  Ducarel 
three,  out  of  the  thirteen  who  attended.  He  had  drawn 
up  also,  an  account  of  Doctors-commons,  and,  as  an  ap- 
pendix to  it,  complete  lists  of  the  different  chancellors  of 
the  several  dioceses  of  this  kingdom,  as  high  as  the  registers 
go,  in  folio,  which  were  so  nearly  ready  for  publication, 
that  he  repeatedly  promised  them  with  that  express  inten- 
tion to  Mr.  Nichols,  who,  at  the  doctor's  request,  caused 
complete  indexes  to  be  made  to  both.  The  materials  for 
both  these  were  among  his  collections  in  Mr.  Cough's 
library.  Another  work  which  he  intended  for  Mr.  Nichols's 
press,  and  for  which  an  index  was  in  like  manner  made, 
was  "  Testamenta  Lambethana  ;  being  a  complete  list  of 
all  the  wills  and  testaments  recorded  in  the  archiepiscopal 
register  at  Lambeth,  from  A.  D.  1312,  to  A.  D.  163G,  ex- 
tracted by  Dr.  Ducarel,  F.  R.  and  A.  SS.  Lambeth  libra- 
rian, &c.  with  a  complete  index,  A.  D.  1779." 

For  many  years  it  was  his  custom  to  travel  incognito  in 
August,  with  his  friend  Samuel  Gale,  esq.  attended  only 
by  his  own  coachman  and  Mr.  Gale's  footman,  George 
Monk.  Twenty  miles  was  their  usual  stage  on  the  first 
day,  and  every  other  day  about  fifteen.  It  was  a  rule  not 
to  go  out  of  their  road  to  see  any  of  their  acquaintance. 
The  coachman  was  directed  to  say,  "  it  was  a  job  ;  and 
that  he  did  not  know  their  names,  but  that  they  were  civil 
gentlemen  ;"  and  the  footman,  "  that  he  was  a  friend  of 
the  coachman's,  who  gave  him  a  cast."  They  usually 
took  up  their  quarters  at  an  inn,  and  penetrated  into  the 
country  for  three  or  four  miles  round.  After  dinner,  Mr. 
Gale  smoked  his  pipe,  whilst  Dr.  Ducarel  took  notes, 
which  he  regularly  transcribed,  and  which  after  his  death 
were  purchased  by  Mr.  Gough.  They  constantly  took 
with  them  Camden's  Britannia,  and  a  set  of  maps.  In 
Vertue's  plate  of  London-bridge  chapel,  the  figure  mea- 
suring is  Dr.  Ducarel  ;  that  standing  is  Mr.  Samuel  Gale. 

Dr.  Ducarel  closed  a  life  of  unremitted  industry  and  ap- 
plication in  antiquarian  pursuits,  at  his  house  at  South 
Lambeth,  May  29,  1785,  after  he  had  returned  only 
three  days  from  a  fortnight's  journey  into  Kent,  where  he 


384-  JD  U  C  A  R  E  L. 

had  held  a  visitation  for  himself,  and  three  different  ones 
for  his  friend  archdeacon  Backhouse.  He  was  a  stout., 
athletic  man,  and  had  a  strong  prepossession  that  he  should 
live  to  a  great  age.  He  frequently  said,  that  he  had  the 
stamina  of  long  life ;  and  that  if  he  escaped  any  violent 
accident,  or  a  stroke  of  the  palsy,  "  he  should  take  a  peep 
into  the  next  century."  The  immediate  cause  of  the  dis- 
order which  carried  him  off,  was  a  sudden  surprize,  on  re- 
ceiving, whilst  at  Canterbury,  a  letter  informing  him  that 
Mrs.  Ducarel  was  at  the  point  of  death.  He  hastened 
home,  took  to  his  bed,  and  died  in  three  days ;  and  was 
buried  in  his  favourite  church  of  St.  Katharine,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  altar,  in  a  vault  which  (as  has  been  already 
mentioned)  he  had  many  years  ago  selected  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

He  had  appointed  his  old  and  intimate  friends  Mr.  Foun- 
taine  and  Mr.  Tutet,  executors  to  his  will;  but  both 
these  gentlemen  declining  the  trust,  it  devolved  upon  his 
nephew  and  heir,  Gerard  Gustavus  Ducarel,  esq.  Dr. 
Ducarel  had  the  happiness  of  enjoying  the  esteem  of  five 
successive  primates,  and  lived  to  be  the  oldest  officer  in 
the  palace  of  Lambeth.  His  official  attendance  to  the  du- 
ties of  Doctors-commons  was  unremitting,  and  his  attach- 
ment to  the  study  of  English  antiquities  formed  his  prin- 
cipal amusement.  His  collection  of  books  and  MSS.  was 
valuable  ;  and  his  indexes  and  catalogues  so  exact  as  to 
render  them  highly  convenient  to  himself  and  the  friends 
he  was  desirous  to  oblige.  All  these,  with  a  good  collec- 
tion of  coins  and  medals,  he  gave  by  his  last  will,  to  his 
nephew  Gerard  Gustavus,  in  the  fond  hopes  of  their  being 
preserved  as  heir-looms  in  his  family.  But  they  were  all 
afterwards  consigned  to  the  hammer  of  the  auctioneer,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  MSS.  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Gough,  many  of  which  are  now  in  Mr.  Nichols's  possession. 
In  the  latter  part  of  life  he  was  too  much  immersed  in  pro- 
fessional engagements  to  enter  into  new  attachments  of 
friendship,  but  with  his  old  friends  he  associated  on  the  most 
liberal  terms.  Though  he  never  ate  meat  till  he  was  four- 
teen, nor  drank  wine  till  he  was  eighteen,  as  he  was  frequently 
heard  to  declare  ;  yet  it  was  a  maxim  which  he  punctually 
observed,  that  "he  was  an  old  Oxonian,  and  therefore  never 
knew  a  man  till  he  had  drunk  a  bottle  of  wine  with  him."' 
His  entertainments  were  in  the  true  style  of  the  old  English 


D  U  C  A  R  E  L.  SIS5 

hospitality  ;  and  he  was  remarkably  happy  in  assorting  the 
company  he  not  un frequently  invited  to  his  table.1 

DUG  AS  (M  ic  HA  ML),  was  a  Greek  historian,  concerning 
the  life  of  whom  it  is  only  known  that  he  was  employed  in- 
several  negotiations.  He  wrote  a  history,  which  is  still  extant, 
of  the  Grecian  empire,  from  the  reign  of  the  elder  Andro- 
nicus,  to  the  fall  of  that  empire.  Ducas  is  preferred  to 
Chalcondylas,  though  he  writes  in  a  barbarous  style,  be- 
cause he  relates  facts  not  to  be  found  elsewhere,  and  was 
an  attentive  witness  of  what  passed.  His  work  was  printed 
at  the  Louvre,  in  1649,  folio,  under  the  care  of  Ismael 
Bouillaud,  who  accompanied  it  with  a  Latin  version  and 
learned  notes.  The  president  Cousin  translated  it  after- 
wards into  French,  and  it  concludes  the  8th  volume  of  his 
History  of  Constantinople,  printed  at  Paris,  in  1672  and 
1674,  4to  ;  and  reprinted  in  Holland,  16S5,  12mo.ii 

DUCCIO  (Di  BOMNSEGNA),  was  an  artist  who  flourished 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  but  in  what 
school  he  was  educated  is  uncertain.  Sigismondo  Tizio, 
of  Casti^lione,  who  lived  at  Siena  from  1482  to  1528,  in 
his  histories,  speaks  of  him  as  the  first  artist  of  his  time, 
(1311),  and  makes  him  a  pupil  of  Segna,  a  name  as  cele- 
brated once  as  now  obscure.  The  works  of  Duccio  are 
from  1275,  the  year  in  which  he  received  a  commission  for 
8.  Maria  Novella  at  Florence,  to  1311,  the  period  at 
which  he  was  employed  in  the  cathedral  of  Siena,  to  paint 
the  principal  altar-piece,  a  work  that  still  exists,  which 
marks  probably  an  epoch  of  art,  at  which  he  laboured  three 
years,  and  for  which  he  was  paid  upward  of  3000  scudi 
d'oro,  the  expence  of  gilding  and  ultramarine  included. 
That  part  of  it  which  faced  the  audience,  represented  in 
large  figures  the  Madonna  and  various  saints;  that  which 
fronted  the  choir,  divided  into  many  compartments,  ex- 
hibited numerous  compositions  of  gospel  subjects  in  figures 
of  small  proportions:  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  with  all  its 
copiousness,  the  whole  savours  strongly  of  the  Greek  man- 
ner. Duccio  is  celebrated  as  the  restorer  of  that  inlaid 
kind  of  Mosaic,  called  "  lavoro  di  commesso,"  which  com- 
poses the  floor  of  the  dome  of  Siena.3 

1  Biog.  Brit,  by  Mr.  Nichols  ;  reprinted  with  additions  and  corrections  in  hi? 
Anecdotes  of  Bowyer. 

2  Moreri. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Grrec. — Sasii  Onomastieon.  3  Pilkington, 

VOL.  XII.  C  c 


BUCK  A  L. 

DUCHAL  (.TAMES),  a  learned  dissenting  minister,  was 
born  in  Ireland  J697.  He  had  his  early  education  under 
the  direction  of  an  uncle  ;  his  preparatory  studies  \\ere 
greatly  assisted  by  the  \vell-known  Mr.  Abernethy  ;  and 
he  finished  his  course  of  study  at  the  universitv  or  Glas- 
gow ;  which,  in- testimony  of  his  merit,  conferred  en  him 
the  degree  of  D.D.  He  resided  for  ten  or  eleven  years 
at  Cambridge,  as  the  pastor  of  a  small  congregation  there; 
where  he  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  books,  and  of  learned 
conversation,  which  he  improved  with  the  greatest  dili- 
gence. On  Mr.  Abernethy's  removal  from  Antrim,  he 
succeeded  him  in  that  place  ;  and  on  the  death  of  that 
gentleman,  was  chosen  to  be  minister  to  the  protestant 
dissenting  congregation  of  Wood-street,  Dublin,  in  which 
situation  he  continued  to  his  death,  which  happened  in  1761. 

During  his  residence  here,  when  he  was  in  the  decline  of 
life,  of  a  valetudinary  habit,  and  had  frequent  avocations  in 
the  way  of  his  profession,  he  composed  and  wrote  sermons 
to  the  amount  of  more,  it  appears  on  the  best  computation, 
than  700.  From  this  mass  a  collection  was  taken  after  his 
death,  and  published  in  1764,  3  vols.  8vo.  They  are  mostly 
on  new  and  uncommon  subjects  ;  and  though  they  cannot 
bear  a  strict  critical  examination,  yet  a  vein  of  strong 
manly  sense  and  piety  runs  through  the  whole.  During 
his  life,  he  published  a  volume  of  excellent  discourses  on 
the  presumptive  arguments  in  favour  or  the  Christian  re- 
ligion ;  and  many  occasional  tracts,  both  in  England  and 
Ireland.1 

DUCHAT  (JACOB  LK),  a  French  editor,  distinguished 
amons:  the  literati  of  his  time,  was  born  at  Metz  in  1658. 

O  ' 

He  was  trained  to  the  law,  and  followed  the  bar,  till  the 
reformed  were  driven  out  ot  France,  by  the  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  Nantz.  In  1701  he  settled  at  Berlin  ;  became 
a  member  of  the  academy  of  sciences  ;  and  died  there  in 
1735.  He  was  regarded  as  a  very  learned  person,  yet  is 
distinguished  as  an  editor  rather  than  an  author.  His  pecu- 
liar taste  for  the  ancient  French  writers,  Leu  him  to  give 
new  editions  of  the  Menippean  Satires,  of  the  works  of 
Rabelais,  of  the  Apology  for  Herodotus,  by  Henry  Ste- 
phens, &c.  all  accompanied  with  remarks  of  his  own.  He 
held  a  correspondence  with  Bayle,  whom  he  furnished 
with  many  particulars  for  his  Dictionary,  and  whose  at- 

1  Biog.  BrJt. 


D  U  C  H  A  T.  387 

tachment  to  expatiating  on  indelicate  passages,  notes,  &c. 
he  too  closely  copied.  After  his  death  was  published  a 
"  Ducatiana,"  at  Amsterdam,  1738,  2  vols.  ^mo.1 

DUCHE  DE  VANCY  (JOSEPH  FRANCIS),  born  at  Pari% 
Oct.  29,  1668,  was   the  son  of  a  gentleman  of  the  bed- 
chamber to  the  French  king.     His  father  took  great  pains 
in  his  education  ;  but  left  him  scarcely  any  property,  and 
he  soon  had  recourse  to  his  pen  as  the  means  of  gaining  a 
subsistence.     The  marchioness  de  Maintenon,  having  seen 
some  of  his  essays,  made  choice  of  him  to  furnish  her 
pupils  at  St.  Cyr  with  sacred  sonnets,  and  recommended 
him  so  strongly  to   Pontchartrain,   the  secretary  of  state, 
that  the  minister,  taking  tht  poet  for  some  considerable 
personage,   went  and  made  him  a  visit.     Duche,  seeing  a 
secretary  of  state  enter  his  doors,   thought  he  was  going  to 
be  sent  to  the  Bastille^;   but  he  was  soon  relieved  from  his 
fright  by  the  civilities  of  the  minister.    Duche  had  as  much 
gentleness  in  his  disposition  as  charms  in  his  wit,  and  never 
indulged  in  any  strokes  of  satire.     Rousseau  and  he  were 
the  delight  of  the  companies  they  frequented;  but  the 
impression   made  by  Duche,  though  less  striking  at   first, 
was   most  lasting.      He  was  also  admired  for  the  talent  of 
declamation,  which  he  possessed  in  no  common  degree. 
The  academy  of  inscriptions  and  belles  lettres  were  pleased 
to  admit  him  of  their  body ;  but  he  died  in   the  prime  of 
life,  Dec.  14,  1704.     Duche  presented  the  French  theatre 
with  three  tragedies,  Jonathan,  Absalom,  and  Deborah,  of 
which  the  second,   containing  several  pathetic  scenes,  still 
keeps  its  ground  on  the  stage  ;  and  also  wrote  some  bal- 
lets,   tragedies,    &c.   for  the  opera.      Of  these   last,    his 
"  Iphigenia"  is  his  best  performance  ;  and  in  the  opinion 
of  his  countrymen,  has  many  of  the  excellencies  of  the 
Grecian  tragedies.     There  is  likewise  by  this  author  a  col- 
lection of  edifying  stories,  which  used  to  be  read  at  St.  Cyr 
with  no  less  edification  than  pleasure,  but  which  has  some- 
times been  confounded  with  the  pious  and  moral  stories  of 
the  abb6  de  Choisi.     The  two  works  are  indeed  written  in 
the  same  design,  that  of  disengaging  youth  from  frivolous 
reading  ;  but  the  collection  of  the  poet  is  less  known  than 
that  of  the  abb6  ;  yet  is  not  inferior  to  it,   either  in  eleva- 
tion of  sentiment,  in  truth  of  character,  or  even  in  elegance.. 

1  Moreri» — Diet.    Hist.  —  Bibl.  Gernianique,  vol.  XXXIV.  —  Niceron.  vol. 
XXXIX. 

C  C   2 


338  D  U  C  K. 

of  style.  His  hymns  and  his  sacred  canticles  were  also 
sung  at  St.  Cyr. ' 

DU  CHESNE.     See  CHESNE. 

DUCK  (ARTHUR),  an  English  civilian,  was  born  at 
Heavy-Tree,  near  Exeter  in  Devonshire,  1580,  of  a  con- 
siderable family,  and  was  the  younger  brother  of  Nicholas 
Duck,  recorder  of  Exeter.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was 
entered  of  Exeter  college,  Oxford,  took  his  degree  of  B.  A. 

O      '  *  O 

and  became  a  fellow-commoner  in  1599.  From  thence  he 
removed  to  Hart-hall,  took  his  master's  degree,  and  after- 
wards was  elected  fellow  of  All-souls  ;  but  his  genius  lead- 

. 

ing  him  to  the  study  of  the  civil  law,  he  took  his  degree  of 
doctor  in  that  faculty.*  He  travelled  into  France,  Italy, 
and  Germany  ;  and,  after  his  return,  was  made  chancellor 
of  the  diocese  of  Bath  and  Wells.  He  was  afterwards 
made  chancellor  of  London,  and  at  length  master  of  the 
requests  :  but  the  confusions,  which  were  then  beginning, 
probably  hindered  him  from  rising  higher.  In  1640  he 
was  elected  burgess  for  Minehead  in  Somersetshire,  and 
soon  after  siding  with  king  Charles  in  the  time  of  the  re- 
bellion, became  a  great  sufferer  in  the  fortunes  of  his  fa- 
mily, being  stripped  by  the  usurpers  of  2000/.  In  1648 
he  was  sent  for  by  his  majesty  to  Newport  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  to  assist  in  his  treaty  with  the  commissioners  from 
the  parliament ;  but,  that  treaty  not  succeeding,  he  retired 
to  his  habitation  at  Chiswick  near  London,  where  he  died 
in  May  16  ±9,  but  in  Smith's  obituary  he  is  said  to  have 
died  in  December  preceding.  He  was  an  excellent 
civilian,  a  man  of  piety,  a  tolerable  poet,  especially  in  his 
younger  days,  and  very  well  versed  in  history,  ecclesias- 
tical as  well  as  civil.  His  only  defect  was  a  harshness  of 
voice  in  pleading.  He  left  behind  him,  "  Vita  Henrici 
Chichele,"  &c.  Oxon.  1617,  4to,  added  to  Bates's  Lives, 
and  translated  into  English,  1699,  and  "  De  usu  &  autho- 
ritate  Juris  Civilis  Romanorum  in  dominiisprincipmn  Chris- 
tianorum  :"  a  very  useful  and  entertaining  work,  which  has 
been  printed  several  times  at  home  and  abroad,  and  is 
-added  to  De  Ferriere's  "  History  of  Civil  Law,"  1724,  8vo. 
He  was  greatly  assisted  in  this  work  by  the  learned  Dr. 
Gerard  Langbaine. 2 

1  Moreri — Diet.  Hist. 

5  Prince's  Worthies  of  Devon. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. — Fortcscue  de  Laudibus 
Lfgum  Ang'.iae,  1737,  folio. — Lloyd's  Memoirs,  p.  59'2. — Peck's  Dtsid  rata, 
vol.  11. — Clarke  in  his  Lives  bound  up  wjtli  his  Martyrology,  has  a  life  of  Dr. 


DUCK.  389 

DUCK  (STEPHEN),  a  very  extraordinary  person,  who 
from  a  thresher  became  a  poet,  and  was  afterwards  ad- 
vanced to  the  cure  of  a  parish,  was  born  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century,  and  had  originally  no  other  teach- 
ing than  what  enabled  him  to  read  and  write  English  :  and, 
as  arithmetic  is  generally  joined  with  this  degree  of  learn- 
ing, he  had  a  little  share  of  that  too.  About  his  fourteenth 
year  he  was  taken  from  school,  and  was  afterwards  succes- 
sively engaged  in  the  several  lowest  employments  of  a 
country  life,  which  lasted  so  long,  that  he  had  almost  for- 
got all  the  arithmetic  he  had  learned  at  school.  However, 
he  read  sometimes,  and  thought  oftener :  he  had  a  certain 
longing  after  knowledge  ;  and,  when  he  reflected  within 
himself  on  his  want  of  education,  he  began  to  be  particu- 
larly uneasy,  that  he  should  have  forgot  any  thing  of  what 
he  had  learned,  even  at  his  little  school.  He  thought  of 
this  so  often,  that,  at  last,  he  resolved  to  try  his  own. 
strength  ;  and,  if  possible,  to  recover  his  arithmetic  again. 

He  was  then  about  24  years  of  age ;  was  married,  and  at 
service  :  he  had  little  time  to  spare  :  he  had  no  books, 
and  no  money  to  get  any;  but  used  to  work  more  than 
other  day-labourers,  by  which  means  he  got  some  little 
matter  added  to  his  pay.  This  overplus  was  at  his  own 
disposal  ;  and  with  this  he  bought  first  a  book  of  vulgar 
arithmetic,  then  one  of  decimal,  and  a  third  of  measuring 
land ;  of  all  which,  by  degrees,  he  made  himself  a  tole- 
rable master,  in  those  hours  he  could  steal  from  sleep  after 
the  labours  of  the  day.  He  had,  it  seems,  one  dear  friend, 
who  joined  with  him  in  this  literary  pursuit;  and  with 
whom  he  used  to  talk  and  read,  when  they  could  steal  a 
little  time  for  it.  This  friend  had  been  in  a  service  at 
London  for  two  or  three  years,  and  had  an  inclination  to 
books,  as  well  as  Stephen  Duck.  He  had  purchased  some, 
and  brought  them  down  with  him  into  the  country ;  and 
Stephen  had  always  the  use  of  his  little  library,  which  in 
time  was  increased  to  two  or  three  dozen  of  books.  "  Per- 
haps," says  his  historian,  Mr.  Spence,  "  you  would  be 
willing  to  know,  what  books  their  little  library  consisted 
of.  I  need  not  mention  those  of  arithmetic  again,  nor  his 
Bible.  Milton,  the  Spectators,  and  Seneca,  were  his  first 
favourites ;  Telemachus,  with  another  piece  by  the  same 

Duck's  wife,  principally  taken  from  Dr.  Gouge's   Funeral  Sermon  for  her She 

died  in  I6i6,  and  appears  to  have  amply  deserved  the  praises  bestowed  on  hor. 


390  DUG  K. 

hand,  and  Addisou's  Defence  of  Christianity,  his  next. 
They  had  an  English  dictionary,  and  a  sort  of  English 
grammar,  an  Ovid  of  long  standing  with  them,  and  a 
Bysshe's  Art  of  Poetry  of  later  acquisition.  Seneca's  Mo- 
rals made  the  name  of  L'Estrange  dear  to  them  ;  and,  as  I 
imagine,  might  occasion  their  getting  his  Joseph  us  in  folio, 
which  was  the  largest  purchase  in  their  whole  collection. 
They  had  one  volume  of  Shaksneare,  with  seven  of  his 
pla}  s  in  it.  Besides  these,  Stephen  had  read  three  or  four 
other  plays  ;  some  of  Epictetus.  Waller,  Dryden's  Virgil, 
Prior,  Hudibras,  Tom  Browne,  and  the  London  Spy." 

With  these  helps  Stephen  grew  something  of  a  poet,  and 
something  of  a  philosopher.  He  had  from  his  infancy  a 
cast  in  his  mind  towards  poetry,  as  appeared  from  several 
little  circumstances  ;  but  what  gave  him  a  higher  taste  of 
it  than  he  had  been  used  to,  was  Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 
This  he  read  over  twice  or  thrice  with  a  dictionary  before 
he  could  understand  the  language  of  it  thoroughly  ;  and 
this,  with  a  sort  of  English  grammar  he  had,  is  said  to 
have  been  of  the  greatest  use  to  him.  It  was  his  friend 
that  helped  him  to  the  Spectators  ;  which,  as  he  himself 
owned,  improved  his  understanding  more  than  any  thing. 
The  pieces  of  poetry  scattered  in  those  papers  helped  on 
his  natural  bent  that  way  ;  and  made  him  willing  to  try 
whether  he  could  not  do  something  like  them.  He  some- 
times turned  his  own  thoughts  into  verse,  while  he  was  at 
wo;k  ;  and  at  la>-t  bo;,an  to  venture  those  thoughts  a  little 
upon  paper.  Tite  thing  took  air;  and  Stephen,  who  had 
before  the  name  of  a  scholar  among  the  country  people, 
was  said  now  to  be  able  to  write  verses  too.  This  was 
mentioned  accidentally,  about  172",  before  a  gentleman 
of  Oxford,  who  sent  for  Stephen  ;  and,  after  some  talk 
with  him,  desired  him  to  write  him  a  letter  in  verse.  He 
did  so  ;  and  that  letter  is  the  epistle  which  stands  the  last 
in  his  poems,  though  the  first  whole  copy  of  verses  that 
ever  he  wrote. 

By  these  attempts,  one  after  another,  he  became  known 
to  the  clergymen  in  the  neighbourhood;  who,  upon  ex- 
amining him,  found  that  he  had  a  great  deal  of  merit,  made 
him  some  presents,  and  encouraged  him  to  go  on.  At 
length  some  of  his  essays  falling  into  the  hands  of  a  lady  of 
quality  who  attended  on  queen  Caroline,  he  became  known 
to  her  majesty,  who  took  him  under  her  protection,  and 
settled  on  him  a  yearly  pension,  supposed  to  be  of  30/. ;  it 


DUCK.  391 

was  such  a  one  at  least  as  was  sufficient  to  maintain  him 
independently  of  labour.  This  Duck  very  gratefully  ac- 
knowledges in  the  dedication  of  his  poems  to  the  queen  : 
*'  Your  majesty,"  says  he,  "  has  indeed  the  same  right  to 
them,  as  you  have  to  the  fruits  of  a  tree,  which  you  have 
transplanted  out  of  a  barren  soil  into  a  fertile  and  beautiful 
garden.  It  was  your  generosity  which  brought  me  out  of 
obscurity,  and  still  condescends  to  protect  me ;  like  the 
Supreme  Being,  who  continual'.;,'  supports  the  meanest 
creature  which  his  goodness  has  produced."  Swift,  who 
might,  one  would  think,  easily  have  overlooked  such  an 
object  as  Duck,  but  whose  spleen  prompted  him  to  be 
satirical  on  any  occasion  or  none,  was  so  piqued  at  this 
generosity  in  the  queen,  while  we  suppose  he  thought 
himself  and  his  own  friends  neglected,  that  he  wrote  the 
following  quibbling  epigram,  as  he  calls  it,  "  on  Stephen 
Duck,  the  thresher  and  favourite  poet:" 

The  thresher  Duck  could  o'er  the  queen  prevail ; 
The  proverb  says,  "  No  fence  against  a  flail." 
From  threshing  corn  he  turns  to  thresh  his  brairds, 
For  which  her  majesty  allows  him  grains. 
Though  'tis  confess'd,  that  those  who  ever  saw 
His  poems,  think  them  all  not  worth  a  straw. 
Thrice  happy  Duck,  employed  in  threshing  stubble  ! 
Thy  toil  is  lessened,  and  thy  profits  double. 

In  1733  the  queen  made  him  one  of  the  yeomen  of  the 
guards,  from  which  situation,  by  a  singular,  and,  we  think, 
absurd  transition,  he  was  admitted  into  orders,  and  pre- 
ferred to  the  living  of  Byfleet  in  Surrey.  The  only  qua- 
lification for  this  office  which  his  biographers  mention,  is 
a  small  knowledge  of  Latin,  not  enough  surely  to  justify 
such  an  abuse  of  church  patronage.  Before  this  he  was 
appointed  keeper  of  the  queen's  select  library  at  Rich- 
mond, called  Merlin's  Cave,  where  he  had  apartments, 
which  were  continued  to  his  daughter  after  his  decease. 
Here  and  at  Byfleet  he  continued  for  many  years  to  make 
poems  and  sermons,  and  was  much  followed  by  the  people 
as  a  preacher ;  till,  falling  at  length  into  a  low-spirited 
melancholy  way,  he  flung  himself  into  the  Thames  from  a 
bridge  near  Reading,  or,  as  some  say,  into  a  trout  stream, 
which  is  near  Reading,  and  was  drowned.  This  unhappy 
accident,  for  he  was  perfectly  lunatic,  befell  him  some 
time  in  March  or  April,  1756.  In  the  preface  to  his 
poems  he  makes  his  acknowledgments  to  some  gentleu,eu 


392  DUG  K. 

who  "  first  took  notice  of  him  in  the  midst  of  poverty  and 
labour."  What  those  gentlemen  did  was  highly  generous 
and  praise-worthy,  and  it  was  hut  gratitude  in  Stephen  to 
acknowledge  it ;  yet  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  if  he 
had  been  suffered  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  lite,  after 
he  had  spent  so  much  of  it,  in  poverty  and  labour,  he  had 
lived  and  died  more  happily.  It  was  thought  that  his  me- 
lancholy proceeded  from  a  notion  that  he  had  not  been 
sufficiently  provided  for,  and  if  so,  his  injudicious  patrons 
must  have  flattered  him  into  a  very  false  estimate  of  his 
merit.  Warton  says  that  Spence,  who  wrote  Duck's  life 
and  published  his  poems,  was  the  means  of  his  obtaining 
the  living  of  By  fleet ;  and  such  was  the  taste  of  the  cour- 
tiers of  queen  Caroline,  that  they  actually  wished  to  set 
up  this  poor  versifier  as  a  rival  to  Pope.  But  although, 
to  use  Warburton's  sarcastic  language,  "  queen  Caroline, 
•who  moderated,  as  a  sovereign,  between  the  two  great 
philosophers,  Clarke  and  Leibnitz,  in  the  most  sublime 
points  in  metaphysics  and  natural  philosophy,  chose  this 
man  for  her  favourite  poet,"  it  was  beneath  such  a  man  as 
Spence  to  persuade  poor  Duck  that  he  merited  the  higher 
rewards  of  genius.  Few  men,  if  we  may  judge  from  his 
works,  had  ever  less  pretensions.1 

DUCLOS  (CHARLES  DINEAU),  born  at  Dinant  in  Bre- 
tagne,  about  the  close  of  1705,  the  son  of  a  hatter,  re- 
ceived a  distinguished  education  at  Paris.  His  taste  for 
literature  obtained  him  admission  to  the  most  celebrated 
academies  of  i\\e  metropolis,  of  the  provinces,  and  of  fo- 
reign countries.  Being  chosen  to  succeed  Mirabaud,  as 
perpetual  secretary  of  the  French  academy,  he  filled  that 
post  as  a  man  who  was  fond  of  literature,  and  had  the 
talent  of  procuring  it  respect.  Though  domesticated  at 
Paris,  he  was  appointed  in  1744  mayor  of  Dinant  ;  and  in 
1755  had  a  patent  of  nobility  granted  him  by  the  king,  in 
reward  for  the  zeal  which  the  states  of  Bretagne  had  shewn 
for  the  service  of  the  country.  That  province  having  re- 
ceived orders  to  point  out  such  subjects  as  were  most  de- 
serving of  the  favours  of  the  monarch,  Duclos  was  una- 
nimously named  by  the  tiers-etat.  He  died  at  Paris,  March 
26,  1772,  with  the  title  of  historiographer  of  France.  His 
conversation  was  at  once  agreeable,  instructive  and  lively. 
He  reflected  deeply,  and  expressed  his  thoughts  with, 

>  Spence's  Life  prefixed  to  his  poems. — 'Bipg.  Brit.— &c. 


D  U  C  L  O  S.  393 

energy,  and  illustrated  them  by  well  selected  anecdotes. 
Lively  and  impetuous  by  nature,  he  was  frequently  the 
severe  censor  of  pretensions  that  had  no  foundation.  But 
age,  experience,  intercourse  with  society,  a  great  fund  of 
good  sense,  at  length  taught  him  to  restrict  to  mankind 
in  general  those  hard  truths  which  never  fail  to  displease 
individuals.  His  austere  probity,  from  whence  proceeded 
that  bluntness  for  which  he  was  blamed  in  company,  his 
beneficence,  and  his  other  virtues,  gave  him  a  right  to  the 
public  esteem.  "  Few  persons,"  says  M.  le  prince  de 
Beauvau,  "  better  knew  the  duties  and  the  value  of  friend- 
ship, lie  would  boldly  serve  his  friends  and  neglected 
merit :  on  such  occasions  he  displayed  an  art  which  excited 
no  distrust,  and  which  would  not  have  been  expected  in  a 
man  who  his  whole  life  long  chose  rather  to  shew  the  truth 
with  force,  than  to  insinuate  it  with  address."  At  first  he 
was  of  the  party  which  went  under  the  name  of  the  philo- 
sophers ;  but  the  excesses  of  its  leader,  and  of  some  of  his 
subalterns,  rendered  him  somewhat  more  circumspect. 
Both  in  his  conversation  and  in  his  writings  he  censured 
those  presumptuous  writers,  who,  under  pretence  of  at- 
tacking- superstition,  undermine  the  foundations  of  morality, 
and  weaken  the  bands  of  society.  Once,  speaking  on  this 
subjert,  "  these  enthusiastic  philosophers,"  said  he,  "will 
proceed  such  lengths,  as  at  last  to  make  me  devout."  Be- 
sides, he  was  too  fond  of  his  own  peace  and  happiness  to 
follow  them  in  their  extravagancies,  and  placed  no  great 
value  on  their  friendship  or  good  will.  "  Duclos  est  a  la 
fois  droit  et  adroit,"  said  one  of  his  philosophical  friends, 
and  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  prudence,  that  he  never 
would  publish  any  tiling  of  what  he  wrote  as  historiographer 
of  France.  "  Whenever  I  have  been  importuned,"  said 
he,  "  to  bring  out  some  of  my  writings  on  the  present 
reign,  I  have  uniformly  answered,  that  I  was  resolved 
neither  to  ruin  myself  by  speaking  truth,  nor  debase  my- 
self by  tla  tery.  However,  I  do  not  the  less  discharge  my 
duty.  If  I  cannot  speak  to  my  contemporaries,  I  will  shew 
the  rising  generation  what  their  fathers  were."  Indeed, 
we  are  told  that  he  did  compose  the  history  of  the  reign  of 
Lewis  XV.  and  that  after  his  death  it  was  lodged  in  the 
hands  of  the  minister.  The  preface  to  this  work  may  be 
seen  in  the  first  vol.  of  the  "  Pieces  inte>essantes"  of  M.  de 
la  Place.  Duclos's  works  consist  of  some  romances,  which 
have  been  much  admired  in.  France  ;  1.  "  The  Confessions 


394  D  U  C  L  O  S. 

of  count  ***."  2.  "  The  baroness  de  Luz."  3.  "  Memoirs 
concerning  the  Manners  of  the  eighteenth  Century ;" 
each  in  1  vol.  12mo.  4.  <l  Acajou;"  in  4to  and  12mo,  with 
plates.  In  the  Confessions  he  has  given  animation  and 
action  to  what  appeared  rather  dry  and  desultory  in  his 
"  Considerations  on  the  Manners."  Excepting  two  or 
three  imaginary  characters,  more  fantastical  than  real,  the 
remainder  seems  to  be  the  work  of  a  master.  The  situa- 
tions, indeed,  are  not  so  well  unfolded  as  they  might  have 
been ;  the  author  has  neglected  the  gradations,  the  shades  ; 
and  the  romance  is  not  sufficiently  dramatical.  But  the 
interesting  story  of  madam e  de  Selve  proves  that  M.  Duclos 
knew  how  to  finish  as  well  as  to  sketch.  His  other  ro- 
mances are  inferior  to  the  "  Confessions."  The  memoirs 
relating  to  the  manners  of  the  eighteenth  century  abound 
in  just  observations  on  a  variety  of  subjects.  Acajou  is  no 
more  than  a  tale,  rather  of  the  grotesque  species,  but  well 
written.  5.  "The  History  of  Lewis  XI."  1745,  3  vols. 
12mo;  and  the  authorities,  an  additional  volume,  1746, 
contain  curious  matter.  The  style  is  concise  and  elegant, 
but  too  abrupt  and  too  epigrammatical.  Taking  Tacitus 
for  his  model,  whom,  by  the  way,  he  approaches  at  a  very- 
humble  distance,  he  has  been  less  solicitous  about  the 
exact  and  circumstantial  particularization  of  facts,  than 
their  aggregate  compass,  and  their  influence  on  the  man- 
ners, laws,  customs,  and  revolutions  of  the  state.  Though 
his  diction  has  been  criticised,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
his  lively  and  accurate  narration,  perhaps  at  the  same  time 
rather  dry,  is  yet  more  supportable  than  that  ridiculous 
pomp  of  words  which  almost  all  the  French  authors  have 
employed  in  a  department  where  declamation  and  exag- 
geration are  the  greatest  defects.  6.  "  Considerations  on 
the  Manners  of  the  present  Century,"  12mo;  a  book 
replete  with  just  maxims,  accurate  definitions,  ingenious 
discussions,  novel  thoughts,  and  well-drawn  characters, 
although  the  style  is  sometimes  obscure,  and  there  is  here 
and  there  an  affectation  of  novelty,  in  which  a  writer  of 
consummate  taste  would  not  have  indulged  ;  but  these  de- 
fects are  amply  compensated  by  a  zeal  for  truth,  honour, 
probity,  beneficence,  and  all  the  moral  and  social  virtues. 
Lewis  XV.  said  of  this  book,  "  It  is  the  work  of  a  worthy 
man."  7.  "  Remarks  on  the  general  Grammar  of  Port- 
Royal."  In  these  he  shews  himself  a  philosophical  gram- 
marian. 7.  "  Voyage  en  Italie,"  1791,  8vo.  This  trip  he 


D  U  C  L  O  S.  395 

took  in  1767  and  1768.  8.  "  Memoirs  secrets  sur  les 
regnes  de  Louis  XIV  et  Louis  XV.  1791,"  2  vols.  Svo,  in 
which  are  many  curious  anecdotes  and  bold  facts.  He 
wrote  also  several  dissertations  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  aca- 
demy of  belles-lettres,  which  contain  much  eruuiti  HI, 
qualified  by  the  charms  of  wit,  and  ornamented  by  a  dic- 
tion clear,  easy,  correct,  and  always  adaptejd  to  the  sub- 
ject. Duclos  had  a  greater  share  than  any  other  in  the 
edition  of  1762  of  the  Dictionary  of  the  French  Academy; 
in  which  his  usual  accuracy  and  judgment  are  every -Ah  ere 
apparent ;  and  he  had  begun  a  continuation  of  the  history 
of  that  society.  His  whole  works  were  collected  for  the 
first  time,  and  printed  at  Paris  in  1806,  10  vols.  Svo,  with 
a  life  by  M.  Auger,  and  many  pieces  left  by  him  in  ma- 
nuscript. This  edition  appears  to  have  revived  his  fame  in 
France,  and  made  him  be  enrolled  among  her  standard 
authors. ! 

DUDITH  (ANDREW),  an  eminent  prelate,  was  born  Feb. 
6,  1533,  at  Buda,  and  educated  by  his  uncle,  who  was 
bishop  of  Vaccia,  or  Veitzen,  and  out  of  respect  to  him 
he  took  the  name  of  SHARDELLET.  In  1560  the  emperor 
Ferdinand  II.  admitted  Dudith  into  his  council,  and  ap- 
pointed him  bishop  of  Tina.  He  was  sent  soon  after  to  the 
council  of  Trent,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  and  all  the 
Hungarian  clergy  ;  and  there  made  a  very  eloquent  speech, 
April  9,  1568,  which  was  heard  with  great  pleasure.  But 
this  was  not  the  case  with  another  speech  which  he  deli- 
vered in  that  place  on  July  6  ;  for,  though  he  shewed 
great  zeal  for  the  pope,  and  exclaimed  strongly  against 
Luther,  yet  he  expressed  himself  so  freely,  both  there  and 
in  his  common  conversation,  on  the  necessity  of  episcopal 
residence,  and  in  favour  of  marriage  among  the  clergy, 
and  administering  the  cup  in  the  sacrament,  that  the  le- 
gates, apprehensive  of  his  drawing  many  prelates  to  his 
opinion,  wrote  to  the  pope,  informing  him,  that  Dudith 
was  a  dangerous  man,  and  that  it  was  necessary  he  should 
leave  Trent.  Upon  tnis  the  pope  solicited  the  emperor  to 
recall  him,  which  he  accordingly  did  :  but  Ferdinand,  far 
from  blaming  his  conduct,  rewarded  it  with  the  bishopric 
of  Chonat,  and  soon  after  gave  him  that  of  five  churches. 
This  prince  dying  1564,  Dudith  was  sent  by  Maximilian 
II.  into  Poland,  whither  he  nad  been  sent  before  by  Fer- 

1  Diet,  Hist. 


3ae  D  U  D  I  T  H. 

dinand,  and  privately  married  lleyna  Strazzi,  maid  of  ho- 
nour to  the  queen,  resigning  his  bishopric.  Rome  cited 
him,  excommunicated  him,  and  even  condemned  him  to 
the  flames  as  an  heretic,  yet  he  despised  her  threats,  and 
remained  in  security.  After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  by 
whomhehadthreechildren,  he  married  in  1579,  a  lady 
descended  from  an  illustrious  Polish  family,  widow  of  count 
John  Zarnow,  and  sister  of  the  famous  Sborowits,  by  whom 
also  he  had  children.  Dudith,  at  length,  openly  professed 
the  reformed  religion,  and  even  became  a  Socinian,  ac- 
cording to  most  authors,  particularly  of  the  modern  school^ 
who  seem  proud  of  their  convert ;  but  the  fact  is  denied 
by  the  writer  of  his  life,  who,  on  the  contrary,  asserts,  he 
disputed  strongly  against  Socinus.  He  then  settled  at 
Breslaw  in  Silesia,  where  he  died  February  23,  1589,  aged 
56.  Dudith,  according  to  the  representations  both  of  his 
friends  and  enemies,  was  a  handsome  well-made  man,  of 
a  peaceable  disposition ;  civil,  affable,  regular  in  his  con- 
duct, very  charitable  to  the  poor,  and  benevolent  towards 
all  mankind.  He  had  a  taste  for  the  classics,  and  so  great 
a  veneration  for  Cicero,  that  he  wrote  all  that  orator's 
works,  three  times  over,  with  his  own  hand.  He  likewise 
understood  several  languages,  and  was  well  acquainted 
with  history,  philosophy,  mathematics,  physic,  law,  and 
divinity.  He  left  a  great  number  of  works  :  the  principal 
are,  "  Dissertationes  de  Cometis,"  Utrecht,  1665,  4to  ; 
two  discourses,  delivered  at  the  council  of  Trent;  an  apo- 
logy for  the  emperor  Maximilian  II.  <kc.  published  with 
other  tracts,  and  his  Life  by  Reuter,  1610,  4to.  He  pub- 
lished also,  the  Life  of  cardinal  Pole,  translated  from  the 
Italian  of  Beccatelli.  Several  of  Dudith's  letters  and 
poems  occur  in  the  collections. l 

A  DUDLEY  (EDMUND),  a  celebrated  lawyer  and  states- 
man, in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  was  born  in  1462.  Some 
have  said,  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  mechanic  :  but  this  no- 
tion probably  took  its  rise  from  prejudices  conceived 
against  him  for  his  mal-administrations  in  power;  for  he 
was  of  the  ancient  family  of  the  Dudleys,  and  his  father 
was  sir  John  Dudley,  second  son  of  John  Dudley,  baron 
of  Dudley,  and  knight  of  the  garter.  About  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  was  sent  to  Oxford,  where  he  spent  some  time ; 

1  Moreri.  —  Freheri  Theatrum.  —  Niceron,  vol.  XVII.  —  Dupin. — Jortiri*s 
Erasmus. 


DUDLEY.  397 

and  afterwards  removed  to  Gray's-inn  in  London,  in  order 
to  prosecute  the  study  of  the  law.     This  he  did  with  great 
diligence,  and  came  at  length  to  be  considered  as  so  able 
a  person  in  his  profession,  as  to  induce  Henry  VII.  to  take 
him  very  early  into  his  service.     It  is  said  that  fur  his  sin- 
gular prudence   and  fidelity  he  was   sworn   of  the  king's 
privy-council  in  his  23d  year,  which  some  think  too  early 
a  period  :   it  is,  however,  asserted  by  Polydore  Vergil,  who 
was  then  in  England.     In    1492  we  find  him  one  of  those 
great  men   in   the  king's  army  near   Boiogne,  who   were 
chiefly  instrumental  in   making  a  peace  with  France  ;  and 
that  two  years  after  he  obtained  the  wardship  and  marriage 
of  Elizabeth,   daughter  of  Edward  Grey,   viscount  L'lsle, 
sister  and  coheiress  of  John  viscount  L'lsle,   her  brother. 
In  1499  he  was  one  of  those  who  signed  the  ratification  of 
the  peace  just  mentioned,  by  the  authority  of  parliament ; 
which  shows  that  he  was,   if  not  in   great  credit  with  his 
country,  at  least  in  high  favour  with  his  prince,  whom  he 
particularly  served  in  helping  to  fill  his  coffers,  under  the 
colour  of  law,  though  with  very  little  regard  to  equity  and 
justice.    All  our  general  histories  have  handled  this  matter 
so  in  the  gross,  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  learn  from  them 
wherein  the  crimes  of  Empson  and  Dudley  consisted  :  but 
Bacon,   who  understood  it  well,  relates  every  circumstance 
freely  and  fully  in  the  following  manner  :   "  As  kings  do 
more  easily  find  instruments  for   their  will  and   humour, 
than  for  their  service  and  honour,   he  had  gotten  for  his 
purpose,  or  beyond  his  purpose,  two  instruments,  Empson 
and  Dudley,  bold  men,  and  careless  of  fame,  and  that  took 
toll  for  their  master's  grist.      Dudley  was  of  a  good  family, 
eloquent,    and  one  that  could   put  hateful  business   into 
good  language  ;  but  Empson,  that  was  the  son  of  a  sieve- 
maker,  triumphed  always  in  the  deed  done,   putting  off  all 
other    respects   whatsoever.      These   two   persons,    being 
lawyers    in    science,    and    privy-counsellors   in  authority, 
turned  law  and  justice  into  wormwood  and  rapine.     For, 
first,  their  manner  was  to  cause  divers  subjects  to  be  in- 
dicted for  sundry  crimes,  and  so  far  forth  to  proceed  in 
form  of  law  ;  but,  when  the  bills  were  found,  then  pre- 
sently to  commit  them  :   and,  nevertheless,  not  to  produce 
them  in  any  reasonable  time  to  their  answer,  but  to  suffer 
them  to  languish  long  in  prison,  and,  by  sundry  artificial 
devices  and  terrors,  to  extort  from  them  great  fines  and 
ransoms,  which  they  termed  compositions  and  mitigations. 


39S  D  U  D  L  E  Y.. 

Neither  did  they,  towards  the  end,  observe  so  much  as  the 
half  face  of  justice  in  proceeding  by  indictment,  but  sent 
forth  ihe.r  precepts  to  attach  men,  and  convent  them  be- 
fore themselves  and  some  others,  at  their  private  houses, 
in  a  court  of  commission  ;  and  there  used  to  shuffle  up  a 
summary  proceeding  by  examination,  without  trial  of  jury, 
assuming  to  themselves  there,  to  deal  both  in  pleas  of  the 
crown  and  controversies  civil.  Then  did  they  also  use  to 
enthral  and  charge  the  subjects'  lands  with  tenures  in  ca- 
pite,  by  finding  false  offices,  and  thereby  to  work  upon 
them  by  wardships,  liveries,  premier  seisins,  and  aliena- 
tions, being  the  fruits  of  those  tenures,  refusing,  upon 
divers  pretexts  and  d flays,  to  admit  men  to  traverse  those 
false  offices  according  to  the  law.  Nay,  the  king's  wards, 
after  they  had  accomplished  their  full  age,  could  not  be 
suffered  to  have  livery  of  their  lands,  without  paying  ex- 
cessive fines,  far  exceeding  all  reasonable  rates.  They  did 
also  vex  men  with  informations  of  intrusion,  upon  scarce 
colourable  titles.  When  men  were  outlawed  in  personal 
actions,  they  would  not  permit  them  to  purchase  their 
charters  of  pardon,  except  they  paid  great  and  intolerable 
sums,  standing  upon  the  strict  point  of  law,  which,  upon 
outlawries,  giveth  forfeiture  of  goods  :  nay,  contrary  to  all 
law  and  colour,  they  maintained  the  king  ought  to  have  the 
half  of  men's  lands  and  rents,  during  the  space  of  full  two 
years,  for  a  pain,  in  case  of  outlawry.  They  would  also 
ruffle  \\ithjurors,  and  enforce  them  to  find  a.s  they  would 
direct ;  and,  if  they  did  not,  convent  them,  imprison  them, 
and  fine  them." 

In  the  parliament  held  in  1504,  Dudley  was  speaker  of 
the  house  of  commons;  and  in  consideration,  as  it  may  be 
presumed,  of  his  great  services  to  his  master  in  this  high 
station,  we  find  that  two  years  after  he  obtained  a  grant  of 
the  stewardship  of  the  rape  ot  Hastings,  in  the  county  of 
Sussex.  This  was  one  of  t1  e  last  favours  he  received  from, 
his  master  ;  who,  at  the  close  of  his  life,  is  said  to  have 
been  so  much  troubled  at  the  oppressions  and  extortions 
of  these  ministers,  that  he  was  desirous  to  make  restitution 
to  such  as  had  been  injured,  and  directed  the  same  by  his 
will.  Some  writers  have  taken  occasion  from  hence  to  free 
that  monarch  from  blame,  throwing  it  all  upon  Empson  and 
Dudley  :  but  others,  and  Bacon  among  them,  have  very 
plainly  proved,  that  they  did  not  lead  or  deceive  him  in 
this  affair,  but  only  acted  under  him  as  instruments.  The 


DUDLEY.  399 

king  died  at  Richmond  the  2 1st  of  April,  1509,  and  was 
scarcely  in  his  grave,  when  Dudley  was  sent  to  the  Tower; 
the  clamour  of  the  people  being  so  great,  that  this  step 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  quiet  them  :  though  Stow 
seems  to  think  that  both  he  and  Einp.son  were  decoyed  into 
the  Tower,  or  they  had  not  been  so  easily  taken.  At  the 
same  time,  numbers  of  their  subordinate  instruments  were 
seized,  imprisoned,  tried,  and  punished.  J-;ly  the  same 
year,  Dudley  was  arraigned,  and  found  a'uilty  of  high, 
treason  before  commissioners  assembled  in  Guildhall.  The 
king,  taking  a  journey  afterwards  into  the  country,  found 
himself  so  much  incommoded  by  the  general  outcry  of  his 
people,  that  he  caused  Empson  to  be  carried  ii^o  North- 
amptonshire ;  where,  October  following,  he  was  also  tried 
and  convicted,  and  then  remanded  back  to  the  Tower.  In 
the  parliament  of  January  1510,  Dudley  and  Empson  were 
both  attainted  of  high  treason  ;  but  the  king  was  unwilling 
to  execute  them  ;  and  Stow  informs  us,  that  a  rumour 
prevailed,  that  queen  Catharine  had  interposed,  and  pro- 
cured Dudley's  pardon.  The  clamours  of  the  people  con- 
tinually increasing,  being  rather  heightened  than  softened 
by  seeing  numbers  of  mean  fellows,  whom  they  had  em- 
ployed as  informers  and  witnesses,  convicted  and  punished, 
while  themselves  were  spared,  the  king  was  at  last  obliged 
k>  order  them  for  execution  ;  and  accordingly  they  both 
lost  their  heads  upon  Tower-hill,  Aug.  18,  1510. 

Dudley,  to  give  some  employment  to  his  thoughts  during 
his  tedious  imprisonment  in  the  Tower,  and  perhaps  with 
a  view  of  extricating  himself  from  his  misfortunes,  com- 
posed a  very  extraordinary  piece,  which  he  addressed  to 
the  king,  entitled  "  The  Tree  of  the  Commonwealth,  by 
Edmund  Dudley,  esq.  late  counsellor  to  king  Henry  VII. 
the  same  Edmund  being,  at  the  compiling  thereof,  prisoner 
in  the  Tower,  in  1  Hen.  VIII."  The  contents  of  this 
treatise  are,  in  the  author's  osvn  words,  as  follow :  "  The 
effect  of  this  treatise,"  says  he,  "  consisteth  in  three  espe- 
cial points.  First,  remembrance  of  God,  and  the  faithful 
of  his  holy  church,  in  the  which  every  Christian  prince 
had  need  to  begin.  Secondly,  of  some  conditions  and  de- 
meanors necessary  in  every  prince,  both  for  his  honour 
and  assurety  of  his  continuance.  Thirdly,  of  the  Tree  of 
the  Commonwealth,  which  toucheth  people  of  every  de- 
gree, of  the  conditions  and  demeanors  they  should  be  of." 
This  book  never  reached  the  king's  hands,  and  so  could 


400  DUDLEY. 

not  contribute  to  save  the  head  of  its  author  ;  nor,  though 
seen  and  perused  by  many,  and  thence  made  often  the 
subject  of  conversation,  was  it  ever  published.  Several 
copies  of  it  are  still  extant  in  MS. l 

DUDLEY  (JOHN),  son  of  the  preceding,  baron  of  Mai- 
pas,  viscount  L'lsle,  ear!  of  Warwick,  and  duke  of  North- 
umberland, was  born  in  1502,   and  afterwards  became  one 
of  the  most  powerful  subjects  this  kingdom   ever  saw.     At 
the  time  his  father  was  beheaded,  he  was  about  eight  years 
old;  and  it  being  known  that  the  severity  exercised  in  that 
act  was  rather  to  satisfy  popular  clamour  than  justice,  his 
friends  found  no  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  the  par- 
liament, that  his  father's  attainder  might  be  reversed,  and 
himself  restored  in  blood  ;  for  which  purpose  a  special  act 
was  passed   in  1511.     After  an   education   suitable   to  his 
quality,  he  was  introduced  at  court  in  15-23,  where,  having 
a  line  person,  and  great  accomplishments,  he  soon  became 
admired.       He    attended    t'.e    king's    favourite,    Charles 
Brandon,  duke  of  Suffolk,  in  his  expedition  to   France  ; 
and  distinguished   himself  so  much  by  his   gallant  beha- 
viour, that  he  obtained  the  honour  of  knighthood.      He 
attached  himself  to  cardinal  Wolsey,  whom  he  accompa- 
nied in  his   embassy  to  France;  and  he  was  also  in  great 
confidence  with  the  next  prime  minister,  lord  Cromwell. 
The  fall  of  these  eminent  statesmen  one  after  another,  did 
not  at  all  affect  the  favour  or  fortune  of  sir  John  Dudley, 
who  had  great  dexterity  in  preserving  their  good   graces, 
without  embarking   too  far  in   their  designs ;    preserving 
always  a  proper  regard  for  the  sentiments  of  his  sovereign, 
which  kept  him  in  full  credit  at  court,  in   the   midst  of 
many  changes,  as  well  of  men  as  measures.     In    1542,   he 
was  raised   to  the  dignity  of  viscount  L'Isle,  and  at  the 
next  festival  of  St.  George,  was  elected  knight  of  the  gar- 
ter.    This  was  soon  after  followed  by  a  much   higher   in- 
stance both  of  kindness  and  trust;  for  the  king,  considering 
his  uncommon  abilities  and  courage,  and  the  occasion  he  had 
then  for  them,  made  him  lord  high  admiral  of  England  for 
life  ;  and  in  this  important  post  he  did  many  singular  ser- 
vices.    He  owed  all  his  honours  and  fortune  to  Henry  VII L 
and  received  from  him,  towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  very 
large  grants  of  church  lands,  which,  however,  created  him 
many  enemies.     He  was  also  named  by  king  Henry  in  his 

l  Bios-  Brit. 


DUDLEY.  401 

will,  to  be  one  of  his  sixteen  executors ;  and  received  from 
him  a  legacy  of  500/.  which  was  the  highest  he  bestowed 
on  any  of  them. 

After  the  death  of  Henry,  which  happened  January  31, 
1,547,  the  earl  of  Hertford,  afterwards  duke  of  Somerset, 
who  was  the  young  king's  uncle,  without  having  any  re- 
gard to  Henry's  will,  procured  himself  to  be  declared  pro- 
tector of  the  kingdom,  and  set  on  foot  many  projects. 
Among  the  first,  one  was  to  get  his  brother,  sir  Thomas 
Seymour,  made  high-admiral,  in  whose  favour  the  lord 
viscount  L'Isle  was  obliged  to  resign  ;  but  in  lieu  thereof, 
was  created  earl  of  Warwick,  and  made  great  chamberlain 
of  England  ;  favours  which  he  undoubtedly  did  not  think 
a  recompense  for  the  loss  he  sustained ;  and  his  aversion  to 
the  protector  probably  may  be  dated  from  this  period. 
Afterwards  troubles  came  on,  and  insurrections  broke  out  in 
several  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  Devonshire  the  insurgents 
were  so  strong  that  they  besieged  the  city  of  Exeter ;  and 
before  they  could  be  reduced  by  the  lord  Russel,  a  new  re- 
bellion broke  out  in  Norfolk,  under  the  command  of  one 
Robert  Ket,  a  tanner,  who  was  very  soon  at  the  head  of 
ten  thousand  men.  The  earl  of  Warwick,  whose  reputa- 
tion was  very  high  in  military  matters,  was  ordered  to  march 
against  the  latter.  He  defeated  them,  and  killed  about  a 
thousand  of  them  :  but  they,  collecting  their  scattered  par- 
ties, offered  him  battle  a  second  time.  The  earl  marched 
directly  towards  them  ;  but  when  he  was  on  the  point  of 
engaging,  he  sent  them  a  message,  that  "  he  was  sorry  to 
see  so  much  courage  expressed  in  so  bad  a  cause  ;  but  that, 
notwithstanding  what  was  past,  they  might  depend  on  the 
king-'s  pardon,  on  delivering  up  their  leaders."  To  which 
they  answered,  that  "  he  was  a  nobleman  of  so  much  worth 
and  generosity,  that  if  they  might  have  this  assurance  from 
his  own  mouth,  they  were  willing  to  submit."  The  earl 
accordingly  went  among  them  ;  upon  which  they  threw 
down  their  arms,  delivered  up  Robert  Ket,  and  his  brother 
William,  with  the  rest  of  their  chiefs,  who  were  hanged, 
and  the  other  rebels  were  dispersed. 

At  the  end  of  154.9,  sir  Thomas  Seymour  having  been 
attainted  and  executed  for  practices  against  his  brother, 
and  the  protector  now  in  the  Tower,  the  earl  of  Warwick 
was  again  made  lord  high  admiral,  with  very  extensive 
powers.  He  stood  at  this  time  so  high  in  the  king's  favour, 
and  had  so  firm  a  friendship  with  the  rest  of  the  lords  of 

VOL.  XII.  D  j> 


402  D  U  D  L  E  Y. 

the  council,  that  nothing  was  done  but  by  his  advice  anil 
consent;  to  which  therefore  we  most  attribute  the  release 
of  the  duke  of  Somerset  out  of  the  Tower,  and   the  re- 
storing of  him  to  some  share  of  power  and  favour  at  court. 
The  king  was  much  pleased  with  this;  and,  in  order  to 
establish  a  realj  and   lasting  friendship  between  these  two 
great  men,  had  a  marriage  proposed  between  the  earl  of 
Warwick's  eldest  son,  and  the  duke  of  Somerset's  daugh- 
ter; which  at  length  was  brought  to  bear,  and  the  3d  of 
June,  1550,  solemnized  in  the  king's  presence.     In  April 
1551,   the  earl  of  Warwick  was  constituted  earl  marshal  of 
England  ;  soon  after  lord  warden  of  the  northern  marches  ; 
and  in  October,  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  duke  of  North- 
umberland.    A  few  days  after,  the  conspiracy  of  the  duke 
of  Somerset  breaking  out,  the  duke,   his  duchess,  and-se- 
veral   other  persons,  were  sent  prisoners  to   the  Tower  ; 
and  the  king  being  persuaded  that  he  had  really  formed  a 
design  to  murder   the   duke  of  Northumberland,  resolved 
to  leave  him  to  the  law.     He  was  tried,   condemned,  and, 
February  22,  1552,  executed;  the  duke  of  Northumber- 
land succeeding  him  as  chancellor  of  Cambridge. 

This  great  politician  had  now  raised  himself  as  high  as  it 
was  possible  in  point  of  dignity  and  power  :  the  ascendancy 
he  had  gained  over  the  young  king  was  so  great,  that  he 
directed  him  entirely  at  his  pleasure ;  and  he  had  with 
such  dexterity  wrought  most  of  the  great  nobility  into  his 
interests,  and  had  so  humbled  and  depressed  all  who  shewed 
any  dislike  to  him,  that  he  seemed  to  have  every  thing  to 
hope,  and  little  to  fear.  And  such  indeed  was  the  case, 
while  that  king  lived  ;  but  when  he  discerned  bis  majesty's 
health  to  decline  apace,  it  was  very  natural  for  him  to  consider 
how  he  might  secure  himself  and  his  family.  This  appears 
plainly  from  the  hurry  with  which  the  marriage  was  con- 
cluded with  the  lady  Jane  Grey,  eldest  daughter  nf  the 
duke  of  Suffolk,  and  his  fourth  son,  lord  Guildford  Dud- 
ley ;  which  was  celebrated  in  May,  1553,  not  above  two 
months  before  the  kin^  died.  He  had  been  some  time 

i  O 

contriving  that  plan  for  the  disposal  of  the  kingdom,  which. 
he  carried  afterwards  into  execution,  in  the  parliament 
held  a  little  before  the  king's  death,  he  procured  a  con- 
siderable supply  to  be  granted  ;  and,  in  the  preamble  of 
that  act,  caused  to  be  inserted  a  direct  censure  of  the  duke 
of  Somerset's  administration.  Then,  dissolving  thai  par- 
liament, he  applied  himself  to  the  king,  and  shewed  him 


DUDLEY.  403 

the  necessity  of  setting  the  lady  Mary  aside,  from  the 
danger  the  protestant  religion  would  be  in,  if  she  should 
succeed  him  ;  in  which,  from  the  piety  of  that  young 
prince,  he  found  no  great  difficulty.  Burnet  says,  he  did 
not  well  understand  how  the  king  was  prevailed  on  to  pass 
by  his  sister  Elizabeth,  who  had  been  always  much  in  his 
favour ;  yet,  when  this  was  done,  there  was  another  diffi- 
culty in  the  way.  The  duchess  of  Suffolk  was  next  heir, 
who  might  have  sons ;  and  therefore,  to  bar  these  in  fa- 
vour of  lady  Jane  Dudley  seemed  to  be  unnatural,  as  well 
as  illegal.  But  the  duchess  herself  contributed,  as  far  as 
in  her  lay,  to  remove  this  obstacle,  by  devolving  her  right 
upon  her  daughter,  even  if  she  had  male  issue ;  and  this 
satisfied  the  king.  The  king's  consent  being  obtained,  the 
next  point  was  to  procure  a  proper  instrument  to  be  drawn 
by  the  judges;  in  doing  which,  the  duke  of  Northumber- 
land made  use  of  threats  as  well  as  promises  ;  and,  when 
done  at  last,  it  was  in  such  a  manner  as  plainly  shewed  it 
to  be  illegal  in  their  own  opinions. 

Edward  died  the  6th  of  July,  1553.  It  is  said  that  the 
duke  of  Northumberland  was  very  desirous  of  concealing 
his  death  for  some  time  ;  but  this  being  found  impossible, 
he  carried  his  daughter-in-law,  the  lady  Jane,  from  Dur- 
ham-house to  the  Tower,  for  the  greater  security,  and  on 
the  10th  of  July  proclaimed  her  queen.  The  council  also 
wrote  to  lady  Mary,  requiring  her  submission ;  but  they 
were  soon  informed  that  she  was  retired  into  Norfolk, 
where  many  of  the  nobility  and  multitudes  of  people  re- 
sorted to  her.  It  was  then  resolved  to  send  forces  against 
her,  under  the  command  of  the  duke  of  Suffolk  ;  but  queen 
Jane,  as  she  was  then  styled,  would  by  no  means  part 
with  her  father;  and  the  council  earnestly  pressed  the 
duke  of  Northumberland  to  go  in  person,  to  which  he  was 
little  inclined,  as  doubting  their  fidelity.  However,  on 
the  14th  of  July  he  went,  accompanied  by  some  others; 
but,  as  they  marched  through  Bishopsgate  with  two  thou- 
sand horse  and  six  thousand  foot,  he  could  not  forbear 
saying  to  lord  Grey,  "  The  people  press  to  see  us,  but  not 
one  says,  God  speed  us."  His  activity  and  courage,  for 
which  he  had  been  so  famous,  seem  from  this  time  to  have 
deserted  him  ;  for,  though  he  advanced  to  St.  Edmund's- 
bury,  in  Suffolk,  yet,  finding  his  troops  diminish,  the 
people  little  affected  to  him,  and  no  supplies  coming  from 
London,  though  he  had  written  to  the  lords  in  the 

D  D  2 


404  DUDLEY. 

most  pressing  terms,  he  retired  back  to  Cambridge.  The 
council  in  the  mean  time  having  escaped  from  the  Tower, 
had  queen  Mary  proclaimed.  The  duke  of  Northumber- 
land, having  immediate  advice  of  this,  caused  her  to  be 
proclaimed  at  Cambridge,  throwing  up  his  cap,  and  cry- 
ing, "  God  save  queen  Mary  !"  but  all  this  affected  loyalty 
stood  him  in  no  stead;  for  he  was  soon  after  arrested,  ar- 
raigned, tried,  and  condemned.  August  the  2 1st  was  the 
day  fixed  for  his  execution  ;  when  a  vast  concourse  of 
people  assembled  upon  Tower-hill,  all  the  usual  prepara- 
tions being  made,  and  the  executioner  ready ;  but,  after 
waiting  some  hours,  the  people  were  ordered  to  depart. 
This  delay  was  to  afford  time  for  his  making  an  open  show 
of  the  change  of  his- religion  ;  since  that  very  day,  in  the 
presence  of  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  London,  as  well 
as  some  of  the  privy-council,  he  heard  mass  in  the  Tower. 
The  next  day  he  was  executed,  after  making  a  very  long 
speech  to  the  people,  of  which  there  remains  nothing  but 
what  relates  to  his  religion ;  which  he  not  only  professed 
to  be  then  that  of  the  church  of  Rome,  but  to  have  been 
always  so.  Fox  affirms  that  he  had  a  promise  of  pardon^ 
even  if  his  head  was  upon  the  block,  if  he  would  recant 
and  hear  mass ;  and  some  have  believed  that  he  enter- 
tained such  a  hope  to  the  last.  Whatever  truth  there  may 
be  in  this,  it  is  allowed  that  he  behaved  with  proper  cou- 
rage and  composure. 

.  Such  was  the  end  of  this  potent  nobleman,  who,  with 
the  title  of  a  duke,  exercised  for  some  time  a  power  little 
inferior  to  that  of  a  king;  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  that 
though  he  had  many  great  and  good  qualities,  yet  they  were 
much  overbalanced  by  his  vices.  He  had  a  numerous- 
issue,  eight  sons  and  five  daughters ;  of  whom  some  went 
before  him  to  the  grave;  others  survived,  and  lived  to  see 
a  great  change  in  their  fortunes.  John  earl  of  Warwick 
was  condemned  with  his  father,  but  reprieved  and  released 
out  of  the  Tower;  and,  going  to  his  brother's  house  at 
Penshurst,  in  Kent,  died  there  two  days  after.  Ambrose 
and  Robert  were  both  very  remarkable  men,  of  whom  we 
shall  give  some  account ;  Guiklford,  who  married  lady 
Jane  Grey  in  May,  1553,  lost  his  life,  as  well  as  his  unfor- 
tunate lady,  upon  the  scaffold,  the  12th  of  Feb.  following. 
(See  GREY).  The  others,  Henry  and  Charles,  died  un- 
married, as  did  the  daughters  Margaret,  Temperance,  and 
Cathesine ;  but  Mary  was  married  to  sir  Henry  Sidney, 


DUDLEY,  403 

K.  G.  and  another  Catherine  to  Henry  Hastings,  earl  of 
Huntingdon.  The  duke's  widow,  after  being  turned  out 
of  doors,  and  encountering  many  hardships,  obtained  some 
relief  from  the  court,  on  which  she  subsisted  until  her 
death,  at  Chelsea,  Jan.  22,  1555. * 

DUDLEY  (AMBROSE),  son  of  John  duke  of  Northum- 
berland, afterwards  baron  L'Isle,  and  earl  of  Warwick,  was 
born  about  1530,  and  carefully  educated  in  his  father's 
family.  He  attended  his  father  into  Norfolk  against  the 
rebels  in  1549,  and,  for  his  distinguished  courage,  ob- 
tained, as  is  probable,  the  honour  of  knighthood.  He  was 
always  very  high  in  king  Edward's  favour:  afterwards, 
being  concerned  in  the  cause  of  lady  Jane,  he  was  at- 
tainted, received  sentence  of  death,  and  remained  a  pri- 
soner till  Oct.  the  18th,  1554;  when  he  was  discharged, 
and  pardoned  for  life.  In  1557,  in  company  with  both  his 
brothers,  Robert  and  Henry,  he  engaged  in  an  expedition 
to  the  Low  Countries,  and  joined  the  Spanish  army  that 
lay  then  before  St.  Q.uintin's.  He  had  his  share  in  the 
famous  victory  over  the  French,  who  came  to  the  relief  of 
that  place ;  but  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  there  his 
youngest  brother  Henry,  who  was  a  person  of  great  hopes, 
and  had  been  a  singular  favourite  with  king  Edward.  This 
matter  was  so  represented  to  queen  Mary,  that,  in  con- 
sideration of  .their  faithful  services,  she  restored  the  whole 
family  in  blood ;  and  accordingly  an  act  passed  this  year 
for  that  purpose.  On  the  accession  of  queen  Elizabeth, 
he  became  immediately  one  of  the  most  distinguished  per- 
sons at  her  court ;  and  was  called,  as  in  the  days  of  her 
brother,  lord  Ambrose  Dudley.  He  was  afterwards  created 
first  baron  L'Isle,  and  then  earl  of  Warwick.  He  was 
advanced  to  several  high  places,  and  distinguished  by  nu- 
merous honours ;  and  we  find  him  in  all  the  great  and 
public  services  during  this  active  and  busy  reign;  but, 
what  is  greatly  to  his  credit,  never  in  any  of  the  intrigues 
with  which  it  was  blemished  :  for  he  was  a  man  of  great 
sweetness  of  temper,  and  of  an  unexceptionable  character; 
so  that  he  was  beloved  by  all  parties,  and  hated  by  none. 
In  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  endured  great  pain  and 
misery  from  a  wound  received  in  his  leg,  when  he  defended 
New  Haven  against  the  French  in  1562  ;  and  this  bringing 
him  very  low,  he  at  last  submitted  to  an  amputation,  of 

1  IJiofj.  Brit.— History  of  England. 


406  DUDLEY. 

which  he  died  in  Feb.  1589.  He  was  thrice  married,  but 
had  no  issue.  He  was  generally  called  "  The  good  earl 
of  Warwick." 

Some  historians  have  affected  much  amazement  at  the 
great  honours  bestowed  by  queen  Elizabeth  upon  this  noble 
person  and  his  brother  Robert :  but  it  is  easy  to  conceive, 
that  she  always  intended  to  raise  them  from  the  very  be- 
ginning of  her  reign.  In  her  youth  she  had  conversed  very 
intimately  with  them,  saw  them  high  in  her  brother  Ed- 
ward's favour,  and  probably  had  made  use  of  their  interest 
in  those  times  of  their  prosperity.  They  had  been  also, 
making  allowance  for  their  distance  in  rank,  companions 
in  adversity  under  queen  Mary  ;  nor  is  it  at  all  improbable 
that  they  might  do  the  princess  Elizabeth  some  consider- 
able services  during  the  latter  part  of  that  reign,  when 
both  the  brothers  had  recovered  some  degree  of  favour.1 

DUDLEY  (ROBERT),  baron  of  Denbigh,  and  earl  of 
Leicester,  son  to  John  duke  of  Northumberland,  and  bro- 
ther to  Ambrose  earl  of  Warwick,  before  mentioned,  was 
born  about  1532,  and  coming  early  into  the  service  and 
favour  of  king  Edward,  was  knighted  in  his  youth.  June 
J550  he  espoused  Amy,  daughter  of  sir  John  Robsart,  at 
Sheen  in  Surrey,  the  king  honouring  their  nuptials  with 
his  presence ;  and  was  immediately  advanced  to  consider- 
able offices  at  court.  In  the  first  year  of  Mary  he  fell  into 
the  same  misfortunes  with  the  rest  of  his  family;  was  im- 
prisoned, tried,  and  condemned  ;  but  pardoned  for  life, 
and  set  at  liberty  in  October  1554.  He  was  afterwards 
restored  in  blood,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  former  arti- 
cle. On  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  he  was  immediately 
entertained  at  court  as  a  principal  favourite  :  he  was  made 
master  of  the  horse,  installed  knight  of  the  garter,  and 
sworn  of  the  privy-council  in  a  very  short  time.  He  ob- 
tained moreover  prodigious  grants,  one  after  another, 
from  the  crown  :  and  all  things  gave  way  to  his  ambition, 
influence,  and  policy.  In  his  attendance  upon  the  queen 
to  Cambridge,  the  highest  reverence  was  paid  him :  he 
was  lodged  in  Trinity  college,  consulted  in  all  things,  re- 
quests made  to  the  queen  through  him  ;  and,  on  August  10, 
1564,  he  on  his  knees  entreated  the  queen  to  speak  to  the 
iruversity  in  Latin,  which  she  accordingly  did,  and  was  pro- 
bably prepared  to  grant  the  request.  At  court,  however, 
Thomas  earl  of  Sussex  shewed  himself  averse  to  his  coun-; 

1  Biog.  Brit.— History  of  England. 


DUDLEY.  407 

sels,  and  strongly  promoted  the  overture  of  a  marriage 
between  the  queen  and  the  archduke  Charles  of  Austria  j 
as  much  more  worthy  of  such  a  princess  than  any  subject 
of  her  own,  let  his  qualities  be  what  they  would.  This 
was  resented  by  Dudley,  who  insinuated  that  foreign  alli- 
ances were  always  fatal  ;  that  her  sister  Mary  never  knew 
an  easy  minute  after  her  marriage  with  Philip  ;  that  her 
majesty  ought  to  consider,  she  was  herself  descended  of 
such  a  marriage  as  by  those  lofty  notions  was  decried  :  so 
that  she  could  not  contemn  an  alliance  with  the  nobility  of 
England,  but  must  at  the  same  time  reflect  on  her  father's 
choice,  and  her  mother's  family.  This  dispute  occasioned 
a  violent  rupture  between  the  two  lords,  which  the  queen 
took  into  her  hands,  and  composed  ;  but  without  the  least 
diminution  of  Dudley's  ascendancy,  who  still  continued  to 
solicit  and  obtain  new  grants  and  offices  for  himself  and  his 
dependants,  who  were  so  numerous,  and  made  so  great  a 
figure,  that  he  was  styled  by  the  common  people  "  The 
Heart  of  the  Court." 

To  give  some  colour  to  these  marks  of  royal  indulgence, 
the  queen  proposed  him  as  a  suitor  to  Mary  queen  of 
.Scots  ;  promising  to  that  princess  all  the  advantages  she 
could  expect  or  desire,  either  for  herself  or  her  subjects, 
in  case  she  consented  to  the  match.  The  sincerity  of  this 
was  suspected  at  the  time,  when  the  deepest  politicians 
believed  that,  if  the  queen  of  Scotland  had  complied,  it 
would  have  served  only  to  countenance  the  preferring  him 
to  his  sovereign's  bed.  The  queen  of  Scots  rejected  the 
proposal  in  a  manner  that,  some  have  thought,  proved  as 
fatal  to  her  as  it  had  done  to  his  own  lady,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  be  sacrificed  to  his  ambition  of  marrying  a  queen. 
The  death  of  this  unfortunate  person  happened  September 
8,  1560,  at  a  very  unlucky  juncture  for  his  reputation; 
because  the  world  at  that  time  conceived  it  might  be  much 
for  his  conveniency  to  be  without  a  wife,  this  island  having 
then  two  queens,  young,  and  without  husbands.  The 
manner  too  of  this  poor  lady's  death,  which,  Camden  says, 
was  by  a  fall  from  a  high  place,  filled  tiie  world  with  the 
rumour  of  a  lamentable  tragedy  *. 

*  Mr.  Aubrey  has  given  a  very  cir-  cester,  a  very  goodly  personage,  being 

cumstantial  and  curious  account  of  this  a  great  favourite  to  queen   Elizabeth, 

affair;   and,  ai>  it  is  generally  supposed  it  was  thought,  and  commonly  reported, 

to  be  true  in  the  main,  we  will  here  in-  that  had  he  been  a  bachelor  or  widower, 

sert  it:  "  Robert  Dudley,  earl  of  Lei-  the  queen  would  have  made  him  her 


408 


DUDLEY. 


In  Sept.  1564,  the  queen  created  him  baron  of  Denbigh,- 
and,  the  day  after,  earl  of  Leicester,  with  great  pomp  and 
ceremony;  and,  before  the  close  of  the  year,  he  was  made 
chancellor  of  Oxford,  as  he  had  been  some  time  before 
high-steward  of  Cambridge.     His  great  influence   in   the 
court  of  England  was  not  only  known  at  home,  but  abroad, 
which  induced  the  French  king,    Charles  IX.   to  send  him 
the  order  of   St.  Michael,   then   the    most   honourable   in 
France;  and  he  was  installed  with  great  solemnity  in  1565. 
About  1572   it  is  supposed  that  the  earl  married  Douglas, 
baroness  dowager  of   Sheffield  :  which,  however,  was  ma- 
naged with  such  privacy,  that  it  did  not  come  to  the  queen's 
ears,  though  a  great  deal  of  secret  history  was  published, 
even  in  those  days,  concerning  the  adventures  of  this  un- 
fortunate lady,  whom,  though  the  earl  had  actually  mar- 
ried her,  and  there  were  legal  proofs  of  it,  yet  he  never 
would  own  as  his  wife.     The  earl,  in  order  to  stifle  this 
affair,    proposed  every  thing  he  could  think  of  to  lady 
Douglas  Sheffield,  to  make  her  desist  from  her  preten^ 


husband.  To  this  end,  to  free  himself 
of  all  obstacles,  he  with  fair  flattering 
entreaties  desires  his  wifr  10  repose  her- 
self here,"  that  is,  at  Cutnnor  in  Berk- 
shire, where  this  tragical  affair  was 
executed,  "  at  his  servant  Anthony 
Forster's  house,  who  then  lived  in  the 
manor  house  of  this  place ;  and  also 
prescribed  to  sir  Richard  Varney,  a 
promoter  to  this  design,  at  his  coming 
hither,  that  he  should  first  attempt 
to  poison  her,  and,  if  that  did  not 
take  effect,  then  by  any  other  way 
whatsoever  to  dispatch  her."  The 
scheme  of  poisoning  not  succeeding, 
they  resolved  to  destroy  her  by  vio- 
lence; and,  as  Aubrey  relates,  they 
effected  it  thus:  "  Sir  Richard  Varney, 
who.  by  the  earl's  order,  remained  with 
her  alone  on  the  day  of  her  dea'h,  aud 
Tors'er,  who  had  that  day  forcibly  sent 
away  all  her  servantsfrom  her  to  Abing- 
don  fair,  about  three  miles  distance 
from  this  place;  these  two  persons,  first 
stifling  her,  or  else  strangling  her,  af- 
terwards flung  her  down  a  pair  of  stairs 
and  broke  her  neck,  using  much  vio- 
lence upon  her :  yet  caused  it  to  be  re- 
ported, that  she  tell  down  of  herself, 
believing  the  world  would  have  thought 
it  a  mischance,  and  not  have  suspected 
the  villany. — As  soon  as  she  was  mur- 
dered they  made  haste  to  bury  her,  be- 
fore the  coroner  had  given  in  his  in- 


quest, which  the  earl  himself  condemn- 
ed, as  not  done  advisedly  ;  and  her  fa- 
ther, sir  John  Rebsart,  hearing,  came 
with  all  speed  hither,  caused  her  corpse 
to  be  taken  up,  the  coroner  to  sit  upon 
her,  and  further  inquiry  to  be  made 
concerning  this  business  to  the  full. 
But  it  was  generally  thought,  that  the 
earl  stopped  his  mouth  ;  who,  to  shew 
the  great  love  he  bore  to  her  while  alive, 
and  what  a  grief  the  loss  of  so  virtuous 
a  lady  was  to  his  tender  heart,  caused 
her  body  to  be  buried  in  St.  Mary's 
church  in  Oxford,  with  great  pomp  and 
solemnity.  It  is  also  remarkable," 
says  Aubrey,  "  that  Dr.  BabingtoH, 
the  earl's  chaplain,  preaching  the  fu- 
neral sermon,  tripped  once  or  twice  in 
his  speech,  by  recommending  to  their 
memories  that  virtuous  lady  so  pitifully 
murdered,  instead  of  saying,  so  piti- 
fully slain."  Antiquities  of  Berkshire, 
vol.  i.  p.  149.  This  narrative,  hew- 
ever,  appears  doubtful,  because  it  is 
in  fact  almost  closely  copied  from 
"  Leicester's  Commonwealth,"  a  work 
whioh,  with  some  truth,  contains  also 
much  misR-prtsen'ation.  Ye!  this  no- 
blernau's  moral  chaiacter,  we  fear, 
will  not  bear  a  very  strict  examination. 
Concerning  queen  Elizabeth's  inclina- 
tion to  marry  him,  see  a  letter  in  lord 
Hardwioke's  State-papers,  vol.  I.  pf 
163—169. 


DUDLEY.  409 

sions :  but,  finding  her  obstinate,  and  resolved  not  to  com- 
ply \vicli  his  proposals,  he  attempted  to  take  her  off  by 
poison  :  "  For  it  is  certain,"  says  Dugdale,  "  that  she  had 
some  ill  potions  given  her,  so  that,  with  the  loss  of  her 
hair  and  nails,  she  hardly  escaped  death."  It  is,  however, 
beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  earl  had  by  her  a  son  (sir  Ro- 
bert Dudley,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  hereafter,  and  to 
whom,  by  the  name  of  his  BASE  SON,  he  left  the  bulk  of 
b.is  fortune),  and  also  a  daughter. 

In  July  1575,  as  the  queen  was  upon  her  progress,  she 
made  the  earl  a  visit  at  his  castle  of  Kenilworth  in  War- 
wickshire.    This  manor  and  castle  had  formerly  belonged 
to  the  crown  ;  but  lord  Leicester  having  obtained  it  from 
the  queen,  spared  no  expence  in  enlarging  and  adorning 
it :  and  Dugdale  says,  that  he  laid  out  no  less  than  60,000/. 
upon  it.     Here,  due  preparation  being  made,  he  enter- 
tained the  queen  and  her  court  for  seventeen  days  with  a 
magnificence,  of  which,   being  characteristic  of  the  times, 
the  following  account  from  Dugdale  may  be  not  unamusing. 
That  historian  tells  us  (Antiquities  of  Warwickshire,  p.  249), 
that  the  queen  at  her  entrance  was  surprised  with  the  sight 
of  a  floating  island  on  the  large  pool  there,  bright  blazing 
with  torches ;  on  which  were  clad  in  silks  the  lady  of  the 
lake,  and  two  nymphs  waiting  on  her,  who  made  a  speech 
to  the  queen  in  metre,  of  the  antiquity  and  owners  of  that 
castle,  which  was  closed  with  cornets  and   other  music. 
Within  the  base-court  was  erected  a  stately  bridge,  twenty 
feet  wide,  and   seventy  feet  long,  over  which  the   queen 
was  to  pass  :  and  on  each  side   stood  columns,   with  pre- 
sents upon  them  to  her  majesty  from  the  gods.     Sylvanus 
offered  a  cage  of  wild   fowl,  and  Pomona  divers  sorts  of 
fruits ;    Ceres  gave   corn,  and    Bacchus    wine ;    Neptune 
presented   sea- fish ;    Mars   the    hahiliments    of   war;  and 
Phcebus  all  kinds  of  musical  instruments.     During  her  stay, 
variety  of  shows  and  sports  were  daily  exhibited.     In  the 
chace,  there  was  a  savage   man  with  satyrs;  there  were 
bear-baiting  and  fire-works,  Italian  tumblers,  and  a  coun- 
try bride-ale,  running  at  the  quintin,  and  morrice-dancing. 
And,  that  nothing   might  be   wanting   which  those  parts 
could  afford,  the  Coventry  men  came  and  acted  the  an- 
cient play,  called  Hock's  Thursday,  representing  the  de- 
struction of  the  Danes  in  the  reign  of  king  Ethelred  ;   which 
pleased  the  queen  so  much,  that  she  gave  them  a  brace  of 
bucks,  and  five  marks  in  money,  to  bear  the  charges  of  a 


410  D  U  D  L  E  r. 

feast.     There  were,  besides,  on  the  pool,  a  triton   riding 
on  a  mermaid  eighteen  feet  long,  as  also  Anon  on  a  dol- 
phin,  with  excellent  music.     The  expences  and  costs  of 
these  entertainments  may  be  guessed  at  by  the  quantity  of 
beer  then  drunk,  which  amounted  to  320  hogsheads  of  the 
ordinary    sort :    and,    for   the  greater   honour   and    grace 
thereof,  sir  Thomas  Cecil,  son  to  the  treasurer  Burleigh, 
and  three  more  gentlemen,  were  then  knighted  ;  and,  the 
next  ensuing  year,  the  earl  obtained  a  grant  of  the  queen 
fora  weekly  market  at  Kenihvorth,  with  a  fair  yearly  on 
Midsummer-day.       So    far   Dugdale.       There    is    also    in. 
Strype's  Annals,  p.  341,  a  long  and  circumstantial   narra- 
tive of  all  that  passed  at  this  royal  visit,  by  one  who  was 
present;  which  strongly  illustrates  the  temper  of  the  queen, 
and  the  manners  of  those  times. 

In  1576  happened  the  death  of  Walter,  earl  of  Essex, 
which  drew  upon  lord  Leicester  many  suspicions,  after  his 
marriage  with  the   countess  of  Essex  took  place,  which, 
however,  was   not  until  two  years  after.     In    1578,  when 
the  duke  of  Anjou  pressed  the  match  that  had  been  pro- 
posed between  himself  and  the  queen,  his  agent,  believing 
lord  Leicester  to  be  the  greatest  bar  to  the  duke's  preten- 
sions, informed  the  queen  of  his  marriage  with  lady  Essex ; 
upon  which  her  majesty  was  so  enraged,  that,  as  Camden 
relates,  she  commanded  him  not  to  stir  from   the  castle  of 
Greenwich,  and  would  have  committed  him  to  the  Tower, 
if  she  had  not  been  dissuaded  from  it  by  the  earl  of  Sussex. 
Lord  Leicester  being  now  in  the  very  height  of  power  and 
influence,  many  attempts  were  made  upon  his  character, 
in  order  to  take  him  down  :  and  in  1584  came  out  a  most 
virulent  book  against  him,  commonly  called  "  Leicester's 
Commonwealth,"  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  shew,   that 
the  English  constitution  was  subverted,  and  a  new  form 
imperceptibly  introduced,  to   which  no  name  could  be  so 
properly  given,   as  that  of  a  "  Leicestrian  Commonwealth." 
In  proof  of  this,  the  earl  was  represented  as  an  atheist  in 
point  of  religion,  a  secret  traitor  to  the  queen,  an  oppres- 
sor of  her  people1,  an  inveterate  enemy  to  the  nobility,  a 
complete  monster  with  regard  to  ambition,  cruelty,  and 
Just ;  and  not  only  so,  but  as  having  thrown  all  offices  of 
trust  into  the  hands  of  his  creatures,  and  usurped  all  the 
power  of  the  kingdom.     The  queen,  however,  did  not  fail 
to  countenance  and   protect  her  favourite  ;  and  to  remove 
as  much  as  possible  the  impression  this  performance  made 


DUDLEY.  411 

upon  the  vulgar,  caused  letters  to  be  issued  from  the  privy- 
council,  in  which  all  the  facts  contained  therein  were  de- 
clared to  he  absolutely  false,  not  only  to  the  knowledge  of 
those  who  signed  them,  but  also  of  the  queen  herself. 
Nevertheless,  this  book  was  universally  read,  and  the  con- 
tents of  it  generally  received  for  true :  and  the  great 
secrecy  with  which  it  was  written,  printed,  and  published, 
induced  a  suspicion,  that  some  very  able  heads  were  con- 
cerned either  in  drawing  it  up,  or  at  least  in  furnishing  the 
materials.  It  is  not  well  known  what  the  original  title  of 
it  was,  but  supposed  to  be  "  A  Dialogue  between  a  scho- 
lar, a  gentleman,  and  a  lawyer;"  though  it  was  afterwards 
called  "  Leicester's  Commonwealth."  It  has  been  several 
times  reprinted,  particularly  in  1600,  8vo ;  in  1631,  8vo, 
the  running-title  being  "  A  letter  of  state  to  a  scholar  of 
Cambridge;"  in  1641,  4to,  and  Svo,  with  the  addition  of 
"  Leicester's  Ghost;"  and  again  in  1706,  Svo,  under  the 
title  of  "  Secret  Memoirs  of  Robert  Dudley  earl  of  Lei- 
cester," with  a  preface  by  Dr.  Drake,  (see  DRAKE)  who 
pretended  it  to  be  printed  from  an  old  manuscript.  The 
design  of  reprinting  it  in  1641,  was,  to  give  a  bad  impres- 
sion of  the  government  of  Charles  I.;  and  the  same  was 
supposed  to  be  the  design  of  Dr.  Drake  in  his  publication. 
In  Dec.  1585,  lord  Leicester  embarked  for  the  protes- 
tant  Low  Countries,  whither  he  arrived  in  quality  of  go- 
vernor. At  this  time  the  affairs  of  those  countries  were  in 
a  perplexed  situation  ;  and  the  States  thought  that  nothing 
could  contribute  so  much  to  their  recovery,  as  prevailing 
upon  queen  Elizabeth  to  send  over  some  person  of  great 
distinction,  whom  they  might  set  at  the  head  of  their  con- 
cerns civil  and  military  :  which  proposition,  says  Camden, 
so  much  flattered  the  ambition  of  this  potent  earl,  that  he 
willingly  consented  to  pass  the  seas  upon  this  occasion,  as 
being  well  assured  of  most  ample  powers.  Before  his  de- 
parture, the  queen  admonished  him  to  have  a  special  re- 
gard to  her  honour,  and  to  attempt  nothing  inconsistent 
with  the  great  employment  to  which  he  was  advanced  : 
yet,  she  was  so  displeased  with  some  proceedings  of  his 
and  the  States,  that  the  year  after  she  sent  over  very  severe 
letters  to  them,  which  drew  explanations  from  the  former, 
and  deep  submissions  from  the  latter.  The  purport  of  the 
queen's  letter  was,  to  reprimand  the  States  "  for  having 
conferred  the  absolute  government  of  the  confederate  pro- 
vinces upon  Leicester,  her  subject,  though  she  had  refused 


412  I)  U  D  L  E  \. 

it  herself;"  and  Leicester,  for  having  presumed  to  take  it 
upon  him.  He  returned  to  England  Nov.  1585;  and, 
notwithstanding  what  was  past,  was  well  received  by  the 
queen.  What  contributed  to  make  her  majesty  forget  his 
offence  in  the  Low  Countries,  was  the  pleasure  of  having 
him  near  her,  at  a  time  when  she  very  much  wanted  his 
counsel :  for  now  the  affair  of  Mary  queen  of  Scots  was 
upon  the  carpet,  and  the  point  was,  how  to  have  her  taken 
off  with  the  least  discredit  to  the  queen.  The  earl  accord- 
ing to  report,  which  we  could  wish  to  be  able  to  contra- 
dict, thought  it  best  to  have  her  poisoned  ;  but  that  scheme 
was  not  found  practicable,  so  that  they  were  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  violence.  The  earl  set  out  for  the  Low 
Countries  in  June  1587  ;  but,  great  discontents  arising  on 
all  sides,  he  was  recalled  in  November.  Camden  relates, 
that  on  his  return,  finding  an  accusation  preparing  against 
him  for  mal-administration  there,  and  that  he  w^as  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  council,  he  privately  implored 
the  queen's  protection,  and  besought  her  "  not  to  receive 
him  with  disgrace  upon  his  return,  whom  at  his  first  de- 
parture she  had  sent  out  with  honour;  nor  bring  down 
alive  to  the  grave,  whom  her  former  goodness  had  raised 
from  the  dust."  Which  expressions  of  humility  and  sor- 
row wrought  so  far  upon  her,  that  he  was  admitted  into 
her  former  grace  and  favour. 

In  1588,  when  the  nation  was  alarmed  with  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  Spanish  armada,  lord  Leicester  was  made 
lieutenant-general,  under  the  queen,  of  the  army  assem- 
bled at  Tilbury.  This  army  the  queen  went  to  review  in 
person,  and  there  made  this  short  and  memorable  speech  : 
"  I  myself  will  be  your  general,  judge,  and  rewarder  of 
every  one  of  your  virtues  in  the  field.  I  know  already  for 
your  forwardness  you  have  deserved  rewards  and  crowns  : 
and  we  do  assure  you,  on  the  word  of  a  prince,  they  shall 
be  duly  paid  you.  In  the  mean  time  my  lieutenant-general 
shall  be  in  my  stead,  than  whom  never  prince  commanded 
a  more  noble  or  worthy  subject;  not  doubting  but,  by 
your  obedience  to  my  general,  by  your  concord  in  the 
camp,  and  your  valour  in  the  field,  we  shall  shortly  have 
a  famous  victory  over  those  enemies  of  my  God,  of  my 
kingdom,  and  of  my  people."  In  such  high  favour  did 
this  noble  personage  stand  to  the  last:  for  he  died  this 
year,  Sept.  4,  at  his  house  at  Cornbury  in  Oxfordshire, 
while  he  was  upon  the  road  to  Kenilworth.  His  corpso 


DUDLEY.  415 

was  removed  to  Warwick,  and  buried  there  in  a  magnifi- 
cent manner.  He  is  said  to  have  inherited  the  parts  of  his 
father.  His  ambition  was  great,  but  his  abilities  seem  to 
have  been  greater.  He  was  a  finished  courtier  in  every 
respect ;  and  managed  his  affairs  so  nicely,  that  his  influ- 
ence and  power  became  almost  incredible.  He  differed 
with  archbishop  Grindal,  who,  though  much  in  confidence 
of  the  queen,  was  by  him  brought  first  into  discredit  with 
her,  and  then  into  disgrace ;  nay,  to  such  a  degree  was 
this  persecution  carried,  that  the  poor  prelate  desired  to 
lay  down  his  archiepiscopal  dignity,  and  actually  caused 
the  instrument  of  his  resignation  to  be  drawn  :  but  his 
enemies,  believing  he  was  near  his  end,  did  not  press  the 
perfecting  of  it,  and  so  he  died,  with  his  mitre  on  his  head, 
of  a  broken  heart.  This  shews  the  power  the  earl  had  in 
the  church,  and  how  little  able  the  first  subject  of  the 
queen  was  to  bear  up  against  his  displeasure,  though  con- 
ceived upon  none  of  the  justest  motives  *. 

In  his  private  life  he  affected  a  wonderful  regularity, 
and  carried  his  pretences  to  piety  very  high  :  though,  to 
gratify  his  passions,  there  were  no  crimes,  however  enor- 
mous, which  he  would  not  commit.  Poisoning  was  very 
common  with  him  ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  wonder- 
fully skilled  in  -it.  He  was  very  circumspect  in  his  speeches, 
many  of  which  are  preserved  in  the  Cabala,  Strype's  An- 
nals, and  Peck's  Desiderata  Curiosa;  and  wrote  as  well  as 
any  man  of  his  time.  He  had  a  competent  knowledge  of 
the  Latin  tongue,  and  was  thoroughly  versed  in  the  French 
and  Italian.  This  family  of  Dudley,  in  three  descents, 
furnished  men  of  such  capacities  as  are  scarcely  to  be 

*  As  to  his  power  in  the  state,  we  his   diet  by   you    both   discharged  at 

may  form  an  idea  of  that,  from  the  ob-  Buxton's,   but  also  presented   with  a 

servance  shewn   him,  when  he  visited  very  rare  present ;  we  should  do  hrm 

Buxton  Wells,  by  the  earl  of  Shrews-  great  wrong,  holding  him  in  that  place 

bury,  one  of  the  ancientest  peers  in  of  favour  we  do,  in  case  we  should  not 

the   kingdom  ;    and   from    the    sense  let   you    understand    in  how  thankful 

which  the  queen  expressed  of  that  earl's  sort  we  accept  the  same  at  both  your 

behaviour  in  the  following-  letter,  writ-  hands,  not  as  done  unto  him,  but  unto 

ten  with  her  own  hand,  which  contains  our  ownself,  reputing  him  as  another 

perhaps  as  high  a  testimony  of  favour  ourself.     And  therefore  you  may   as- 

as  ever  was  expressed  by  a  sovereign  sure  yourself,  that  we,  taking  upon  us 

to  a  subject.  the  ileht,  not  as  his,  but  our  own,  will 

"  ELIZABETH.  take  carfi   accordingly  to  discharge  ia 

"Our  very  good  cousin  :  being  given  such  honourable  sort,  as   so   well-de- 

to  understand  from  our  cousin  of  Lei-  serving  creditors  as  ye  are  shall  never 

cester,    how    honourably   he    was    not  have  cause  to  think  ye  have  met  with 

•nly  lately  received  by  you  our  cousin  aa  unthankful  debtor,  &c." 
and  the  countess  of  Chatswovth,  and, 


414  D  U  D  L  E  Y. 

equalled  in  history  :  the  grandfather,  the  father,  and  the 
son,  were  all  great  men  ;  but  the  last  the  greatest  and 
most  fortunate  of  the  three,  if  any  man  can  be  so  reputed 
whom  flattery  itself  would  be  ashamed  to  style  good.  Yet,' 
notwithstanding  his  good  fortune,  he  had  probably  shared 
tbe  same  fate,  and  come  to  the  same  untimely  end  with 
them,  if  death  had  not  conveniently  carried  him  off  before 
his  royal  mistress  and  protectress.  It  has  been  justly  re- 
marked, that  notwithstanding  the  elaborate  article,  written 
by  Dr.  Campbell  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  and  the 
farther  information  that  may  be  derived  concerning  Lei- 
cester from  subsequent  writers,  there  still  hangs  a  cloud 
on  some  parts  of  his  conduct,  which  is  probably  now  for 
ever  incapable  of  being  removed.  This  is  particularly  the 
case  with  regard  to  the  murders  ascribed  to  him,  which 
rather  rest  upon  the  grounds  of  strong  and  reasonable  sus- 
picion, than  the  basis  of  direct  and  positive  evidence. 
Perhaps,  likewise,  too  indiscriminate  a  credit  has  been 
given  to  the  tract,  entitled,  "  Leicester's  Commonwealth." 
On  the  whole,  however,  he  must  stand  upon  record  as 
having  been  a  very  wicked  man  ;  and  it  is  a  poor  compen- 
sation for  this  character,  to  be  able  to  say,  that,  upon  in- 
quiry, his  abilities  appear  to  have  been  of  a  higher  nature 
than  has  commonly  been  apprehended.  * 

DUDLEY  (SiR  ROBERT,  as  he  was  called  here,  and  as 
he  was  styled  abroad  earl  of  Warwick  and  duke  of  Nor- 
thumberland) was  son  of  Robert  earl  of  Leicester  by  the 
lady  Douglas  Sheffield,  and  born  at  Sheen  in  Surrey,  in 
1573.  His  birth,  it  is  said,  was  carefully  concealed,  as 
well  to  prevent  the  queen's  knowledge  of  the  earl's  en- 
gagements with  his  mother,  as  to  hide  it  from  the  countess 
of  Essex,  to  whom  he  was  then  contracted,  if  not  married  ; 
but  this  latter  assertion  is  surely  doubtful,  as  the  countess 
of  Essex  was  not  a  widow  until  1576  (See  DEVEREUX, 
WALTER.)  Sir  Robert,  however,  was  considered  and  treated 
as  his  lawful  son  till  the  earl's  marriage  with  the  lady  Essex", 
which  was  about  1578  :  and  then  he  was  declared  to  be 
only  his  natural  issue  by  lady  Douglas.  Out  of  her  hands 
the  earl  was  very  desirous  to  get  him,  in  order  to  put  him 
under  the  care  of  sir  Edward  Horsey,  governor  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight ;  which  some  have  imagined  to  have  been,  not 
with  any  view  to  the  child's  disadvantage,  for  he  always 

*  Biog.  Bri'.— Lodge's  Illustrations,  vol.  I.  p.  308. 


DUDLEY.  415 

loved  him  tenderly,  but  with  a  thought  of  bringing  him 
upon  the  stage  at  some  proper  time,  as  his  natural  son  by 
another  lady.      He  was  not  able  to  get  him  ibr  some  time  : 
but  at  last  effecting  it,  he  sent  him  to  school  at  Offingham 
in  Sussex,  in  1583,  and  four  years  after  to  Christ  Church 
in  Oxford.     In  1588   his  father  died,  and   left  him,  after 
the  decease  of  his  uncle  Ambrose,  his  castle  of  Keniivvorth, 
the  lordships  of  Denbigh  and  Chirk,  and   the  bulk  of  his 
estate,  which  before  he  was  of  age  he  in  a  great  measure 
enjoyed,   notwithstanding  the  enmity   borne   him   by   the 
countess  dowager  of  Leicester.     He  was  now  reckoned  one 
of  the  finest  gentlemen  in  England,  in  his  person  tall,  well- 
shaped,  having  a  fresh  and  fine  complexion,  but  red-haired; 
learned  beyond   his  age,   more  especially  in  the  mathe- 
matics ;  and  of  parts  equal  if  not  superior  to  any  of  his 
family.     Add  to  all  this,  that   he  was  very  expert  in  his 
exercises,  and   particularly   in   riding  the  great  horse,  in 
which  he  was  allowed  to  excel  any  man  of  his  time. 

His  genius  prompting  him  to  great  exploits,  and  having- 
a  particular  turn   to  navigation   and  discoveries,  he  pro- 
jected a  voyage  into  the  South-seas,  in  hopes  of  acquiring 
the  same   fame  thereby,  as  his  friend  the  famous  Thomas 
Cavendish  of  Trimley,  esq.  whose  sister  he  had  married  : 
but,  after  much  pains  taken,  and  money  spent,  the  govern- 
ment thought  it  not  safe  for  him  to  proceed.     Afterwards, 
however,   he  performed  a  voyage,  setting  out  Nov.  1594, 
and  returning  May  1595  ;  an  account  of  which,  written  by 
himseh,  is   published  in  Hackluyt's  collection  of  voyages. 
At  the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  having  buried  his  wife,  he 
cnarried  Alice,  the  daughter  of  sir   Thomas    Leigh.     He 
then  began  to  entertain  hopes  of  reviving  the  honours  of 
his  family  ;  and  in  1605  commenced  a  suit,  with  a  view  of 
proving  the  legitimacy  of  his  birth.     But  no  sooner  had 
the  countess  dowager  notice  of  this,  than  she  procured  au 
information  to  be  filed  against  him  and  some  others  for  a 
conspiracy  ;  which  was  such  a  blow  to  all  his  hopes,  that, 
obtaining  a   licence  to  travel   for  three  years,  which  was 
easily  grunted   him,  he  quitted  the  kingdom  :  leaving  be- 
hind him  lady  Alice  Dudley  his  wife,  and  four  daughters. 
He  had  not  been  long  abroad,  before  he  was  commanded 
bark,  for  assuming  in  foreign  countries  the  title  of  earl  of 
^arwL-k;  but  refusing  to  obey  that  summons,  his  estate 
was  seized,  and  vested  in  the  crown,  during  his  natural 
life,  upon  the  statute  of  fugitives. 


416  DUDLEY. 

The  place  which  sir  Robert  Dudley  chose  for  his  retreat 
abroad,  was  Florence;  where  he  was  very  kindly  received  by 
Cosmo  II.  great  duke  of  Tuscany  ;  and,  in  process  of  time, 
made  great  chamberlain  to  his  serene  highness's  consort, 
the  archduchess  MagJalen   of  Austria,  sister  to  the  em- 
peror Ferdinand  II.    with  uhr»m  he  was  a  great  favourite. 
He  discovered  in  that  court  those  great  abilities  for  which 
he  had  been  so  much  admired  in  England  :  he  contrived 
several  methods  of  improving   shipping,  introduced   new 
manufactures,  excited  the  merchants  to  extend  their  fo- 
reign  commerce  ;  and,   by  other  services  of  still  greater 
importance,  obtained   so   high   a  reputation,   that,  at  the 
desire  of  the  archduchess,  the  emperor,  by  letters-patent 
dated  at  Vienna  March  9,  1620,  created  him  a  duke  of  the 
holy  Roman  empire.     Upon   this,  he  assumed   his  grand- 
father's title  of  Northumberland  ;  and,  ten  years  after,  got 
himself  enrolled   by  pope  Urban  VIII.  among  the  Roman 
nobility.     Under  the  reign  of  the  grand  duke  Ferdinand  II. 
he  became  still  more  famous,  on  account  of  that  great  pro- 
ject which  he  formed,  of  draining  a  vast  tract  of  morass 
between  Pisa  and  the  sea :  for  by  this  he  raised  Leghorn, 
from  a  mean  and  pitiful  place  into  a  large  and  beautiful 
town  ;  and  having  engaged  his  serene  highness  to  declare 
it  a  free  port,  he,  by  his  influence,  drew  many  English 
merchants  to  settle  and  set  up  houses  there.     In  consider- 
ation of  his  services,  and  for  the  support  of  his  dignity,  the 
grand    duke   bestowed   upon    him    a   handsome   pension ; 
which,  however,  went  but  a  little  way  in  his  expences  :  for 
he  affected  magnificence  in  all  things,  built  a  noble  palace 
for  himself  and  his  family  at  Florence,  and  much  adorned 
the  castle  of  Carbello,  three  miles  from  that  capital,  which 
the  grand  duke  gave  him  for  a  country  retreat,  and  where 
he  died  Sept.  1639. 

Sir  Robert  Dudley  was  not  only  admired  by  princes, 
but  also  by  the  learned  ;  among  whom  he  held  a  very 
high  rank,  as  well  on  account  of  his  skill  in  philosophy, 
chemistry,  and  physic,  as  his  perfect  acquaintance  with 
all  the  branches  of  the  mathematics,  and  the  means  of 
applying  them  for  the  service  and  benefit  of  mankind.  He 
wrote  several  things.  We  have  mentioned  the  account  of 
his  voyage.  His  principal  work  is,  "  Del  arcano  del  mare," 
&c.  Fiorenze,  16^0,  1646,  fol.  There  is  a  copy  in  the 
British  Museum,  dated  1661,  and  called  the  second  edi- 
tion. This  work  has  been  always  so  scarce,  as  seldom  to 


DUDLEY.  417 

have  found  a  place  even  in  the  catalogues  that  have  been 
published  of  rare  books.  It  is  full  of  schemes,  charts, 
plans,  and  other  marks  of  its  author's  mathematical  learn- 
ing ;  but  is  chiefly  valuable  for  the  projects  contained 
therein,  for  the  improvement  of  navigation  and  the  ex- 
tending of  commerce.  Wood  tells  us,  that  he  wrote  also 
a  medical  treatise,  entitled  "  Catholicon,"  which  was  well 
esteemed  by  the  faculty.  There  is  still  another  piece, 
the  title  of  which,  as  it  stand*  in  Rush  worth's  Collections, 
runs  thus  :  "  A  proposition  for  his  majesty's  service,  to 
bridle  the  impertinency  of  parliaments.  Afterwards  ques- 
tioned in  the  Star-chamber."  After  he  had  lived  some 
time  in  exile,  he  still  cherished  hopes  of  returning  to  Eng- 
land :  to  facilitate  which,  and  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
king  James,  he  drew  up  tl  a  proposition,  as  he  calls  it,  in 
two  parts  :  the  one  to  secure  the  state,  and  to  bridle  the 
impertinency  of  parliaments  ;  the  other,  to  increase  his 
majesty's  revenue  much  more  than  it  is."  This  scheme, 
falling  into  the  hands  of  some  persons  of  great  distinction, 
and  being  some  years  after  by  them  made  public,  was  con- 
sidered as  of  so  pernicious  a  nature,  as  to  occasion  their 
imprisonment :  but  they  were  released  upon  the  discovery 
of  the  true  author.  (St-e  COTTON,  SIR  ROBERT).  It  was 
written  about  1613,  and  sent  to  king  James,  to  teach  him 
how  most  effectually  to  enslave  his  subjects  :  for,  in  that 
light,  it  is  certainly  as  singular  and  as  dangerous  a  paper 
as  ever  fell  from  the  pen  of  man.  It  was  turned  to  the 
prejudice  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.;  for  though  neither 
they,  nor  their  ministers,  made  use  of  it,  or  intended  to 
make  use  of  it,  yet  occasion  was  taken  from  thence  to  ex- 
cite the  people  to  a  hatred  of  statesmen  who  were  capable 
of  contriving  such  destructive  projects.  Lastly,  lie  was 
the  author  of  a  famous  powder,  called  "  Puhis  comitis 
Warwicensis,"  or  the  earl  of  Warwick's  powder,  which  is 
thus  made  :  "  Take  of  scammony,  prepared  with  the  fumes 
of  sulphur,  two  ounces;  of  diaphoretic  antimony,  an  ounce; 
of  the  crystals  of  tartar,  half  an  ounce;  mix  them  all  to- 
gether into  a  powder." 

When  he  went  abroad,  he  left  his  wife  and  four  daugh- 
ters at  home,  and  prevailed  upon  a  young  lady,  at  that  time 
esteemed  one  of  the  finest  women  in  England,  to  bear  iam 
company  in  the  habit  of  a  page.  This  lady  was  Mrs.  Eli- 
zabeth Southwell,  the  daughter  of  sir  Robert  Southwell, 
of  Woodrising  in  Norfolk  ;  whom  he  afterwards  married  bv 

VOL.  XII.  E  E 


US  DUDLEY. 

virtue  of  a  dispensation  from  the  pope.  In  excuse  for  this 
gross  immorality,  \ve  are  told  that  the  lady's  conduct  was 
afterwards  without  exception  ;  that  she  lived  in  honour 
and  esteem,  and  had  all  the  respect  paid  her  that  her  title 
of  a  duchess  could  demand,  and  that  sir  Robert  loved  her 
most  tenderly  to  the  last,  and  caused  a  noble  monument 
to  be  erected  to  her  memory  in  the  church  of  St.  Pancrace 
at  Florence,  where  her  body  lies  buried,  and  he  by  her. 
He  had  by  this  lady  a  son  Charles,  who  assumed  the  title 
of  earl  of  Warwick,  and  four  daughters,  all  honourably 
married  in  that  country.  It  is  very  probable,  that  this 
marriage  might  prove  a  great  bar  to  his  return  to  England; 
and  might  be  also  a  motive  to  the  passing  so  extraordinary 
a  law  as  that  was,  by  which  lady  Alice  Dudley  was  enabled 
to  dispose  of  her  jointure  during  his  life. ! 

DUDLEY  (LADY  JANE).     See  GllEY. 

D  U  K  II E  S  N  Y.     See  F R E S N  Y. 

DUGAKD  (WILLIAM),  an  eminent  school-master  and 
learned  man,  was  the  son  of  Henry  Dugard,  a  clergyman, 
and  born  at  Bromsgrove  in  Worcestershire,  Jan.  9,  1605. 
He  was  instructed  in  classical  learning  at  a  school  in  Wor- 
cester;  ar'd  from  thence  sent,  in  162'J,  to  Sidney  college, 
Cambridge.  In  1626  he  took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  and  that 
of  M.  A.  in  1630.  Soon  after  he  was  appointed  master  of 
Stamford  school  in  Lincolnshire;  from  whence,  in  1637, 
he  was  elected  master  of  the  free-school  in  Colchester. 
He  resigned  the  care  of  this  school  Jan.  1642-3,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  ill-treatment  he  received  at  the  hands  of  a 
party  in  that  town,  to  which,  us  well  as  to  the  school,  he 
had  been  of  great  service  ;  and  May  i644  was  chosen  head 
master  of  Merchant  Taylors'  school  in  London.  This 
school  flourished  exceedingly  under  his  influence  and  ma- 

O    » 

nagement ;  but  for  shewing,  as  was  thought,  too  great  an 
affection  to  the  royal  cause,  and  especially  for  printing 
Salmasius's  defence  of  Charles  I.  at  a  press  in  his  own 
house,  he  was  deprived  of  it  February  1650,  and  impri- 
soned in  Newgate ;  his  wife  and  six  children  turned  out  of 
doors ;  and  a  printing-office,  which  he  valued  at  a  thou- 
sand pounds,  seized  *. 

1  Biug.  Brit. — Park's  edition  of  Royal  and  Noble  Authors. 

*  That  he  was  very  well  affected  to  in    Sion  rolle^:-    library,    wherein   are 

«"h;irles  I.   and  to   the   royal   interest,  eiitem!  two  (irct-k  verses,  »n  the  be- 

••i;-- l«-ars   from    a   curious    register    lie  heading  of  that   monarch,  to   this  t-f- 

kcpt  of  his  school,  which  is  still  extant  fee,:   "Charles,  the   best,  of  kings,  i* 


DUG  A  II  I>. 


419 


Being  soon  released  from  this  confinement,  he  opened, 
April  1650,  a  private  school  on  Peter's  Hill,  London  ;  but, 
in  September  was  restored  to  his  former  station,  by  means 
of  the  same  council  of  state  who  had  caused  him  to  be  re- 
moved, and  who,  with  Milton,  took  advantage  of  his  dis- 
tresses to  force  him  into  their  service,  and  among  other 
things  to  print  Milton's  answer  to  Sahaasius.  There,  how- 
ever, he  continued  with  great  success  and  credit,  till  about 
1662,  when  he  was  dismissed  for  breaking  some  orders  of 
the  merchant  tailors,  though  he  had  been  publicly  warned 
and  admonished  of  it  before.  He  presented  a  remons- 
trance to  them  upon  that  occasion,  but  to  no  purpose  :  on. 
which  he  opened  a  private  school  in  Coleman-street,  July 
1661,  and,  by  March  following,  had  gathered  a  hundred 
and  ninety-three  scholars  :  so  great  was  his  reputation,  and 
the  fame  of  his  abilities.  He  lived  a  very  little  while  after, 
dying  in  1662.  He  gave  by  will  several  books  to  Sioa 
college  library.  He  published  some  few  pieces  for  the  use 
of  his  schools  ;  as,  1.  "  Lexicon  Grajci  Testament!  alpha- 
betieum*;  una  cum  explicaiione  gramimitica  vocum  sin- 


fallen  by  the  bands  of  cruel  and  wicked 
men,  a  martyr  for  the  laws  of  Cod  and 
of  his  country."  There  are  also  two 
more  Greek  verses  on  the  burial  of 
Oliver  Croinwell'8  mother  in  Westmin- 
ster-abbey, to  this  effect:  "Here 
lieth  the  mother  of  a  cursed  son,  who 
has  been  the  ruin  of  two  kings,  and  of 
three  kingdoms."  However,  it  -.vas 
not  for  these  verses  that  he  was  dis- 
missed the  school,  but  for  being  con- 
cerned in  printing  Salmasius's  book, 
as  we  learn  from  the  following  memo- 
randum in  this  same  register :  "  Feb. 
20,  1649,  a  concilio  novi  status  ab 
archididascalatus  officio  summotus,  et 
in  carceretn  Novas  -  Portac  oonjecttis 
sum  ;  ob  hanc  praecipue  oausam,  quod 
Claudii  Salmasii  librum,  qui  inscribi- 
tur  '  Defensio  regia  pro  Carolo  priino 
ad  seremssininm  regem  Carolutu  se- 
cundum  legitimum  taereden  et  suc- 
cessoretn,'  typis  mandandum  curave- 
ram  :  typographeo  insuper  intrgro  spo- 
liatus,  ad  valorem  mille  librarum  mi- 


nimum :  nihil  jam  reliqunm  habens> 
unde  victum  quacram  uxori  &  sex  li- 
beris."  Dugard  would  have  been  more 
severely  punished,  if  Milton,  who  was 
his  intimate  friend,  had  not  used  his 
interest  to  bring  him  otF,  which  he  ef- 
fected by  means  of  Kradshaw ;  but 
upon  th;s  condition,  that  Dugard  should 
add  Pamela's  prayer  to  the  bonk  he 
was  printing  (an  edition  of  the  "  Icon 
Basilike")  as  an  atonement  for  his 
fault,  they  designing  thereby  to  bring 
a  scandal  upon  the  performance,  and 
blast  ihe  reputation  of  its  authority. 
In  expectation  of  which  they  used  fre- 
quently to  laugh  at  their  dexterity  in 
thus  inserting  a;iioag  the  king's  ge- 
nuine pieces  a  prayer  out  of  sir  Philip 
Sydney's  Arcadia.  The  book  being 
thus  interpolated,  -Milton  was  em- 
ployed by  the  council  of  slate,  to  whom 
he  was  Latin  secretary,  to  censure  thr> 
king  for  the  use  of  this  very  prayer  ! 
Nichols's  Bowyer. 


*  A  work  excellently  calculated  t'..»r 


likewise,  the  end   of  a  Con- 


the use  of  schools  and  young  students      cor<:ance      in    a    compendious    form. 
in  divinity ;  shewing  the  purpose,  not     The  Iftte  learned  Mr.  Bowyer  had  taken 


•nly  of  n  Lexicon,  by  exhibiting  all 
the  words  of  toe  Greek  Testament,  as 
they  stand  in  the  text,  with  their  ex- 
planations and  iuflections,  but  an- 


some  pains  with  this   Lexicon,  with 
view  to  an  improved  edition  ot  i;  ;   and 
his  corrected  copy  ia  still  in  the 
of  Mr.  Ni-'bol*. 


E  E   2 


420  t)  U  G  A.  R  D. 

gularum,  in  usum  tironum.  Necnon  Concordantiil  singu- 
lis  dictionibus  apposita,  in  usurn  theologian  candidatorum," 
1660.  2.  "  Rhetorices  compendium,"  Hvo.  3.  "  Luciani 
SamosatenMS  dialogorum  seiectorum  libri  duo,  cum  inter- 
pretatione  Latina,  multis  in  locis  emendata,  et  ad  calcem 
adjecta,"  Svo.  4.  "  A  Greek  grammar."  ' 

DUGDALE   (SiR  WILLIAM),   an  eminent   English  anti- 
quary and  historian,  was  the  only  son  of  John  Dngdale,  of 
Shustoke,    near   Coleshill,    in   Warwickshire,    gent,    and 
born   there  Sept.    12,    1605.     He  was  placed  at  the  free- 
school  in  Coventry,  where  he  continued  till  he  was  fifteen; 
and  then  returning  home  to  his  father,  who  had  been  edu- 
eatrd  in  St.  John's  college,  Oxford,  and  had  applied  himself 
particularly  to  civil  law  and  history,   was  instructed  by  him 
in  those  branches  of  literature.     At  the  desire  of  his  father, 
he  married,   March  1623,   a  daughter  of  Mr.  Huntbach,  of 
Seawall,   in  Staffordshire,  and  boarded  with  his   wile's  fa- 
ther till  the  death  of  his  own,  which  happened  July  1624  ; 
but  soon  after  went  and  kept  house  at  Fillongley,   in  War- 
wickshire,  where  he  had  an  estate  formerly  purchased  by 
his  father.      In  1625   he  bought  the  manor  of  Blythe,   in 
Shvstoke,  above-mentioned  ;  and  the  year  following,  sell- 
ing his  estate  at  Fillongley,  he  came  and  resided  at  Blythe- 
hall.      His  natimil  inclination   leading   him   to   the  study  of 
ijntiquities,   he  soon  became  acquainted  with  all  the  noted 
antiquaries  ;  with  Burton   particularly,  whose  "  Descrip- 
tion of  Leicestershire"   he  had   read,  and   who   lived   but 
Jit  miles  from  him,  at.  Lindley,  in  that  county. 
In  I  638  he  went  to  London,  and  was  introduced  to  sir 
Christopher  Hatton,  and  to  sir  Henry  Spelman  ;  by  whose 
interest  he  was  created  a  pursuivant  at  arms  extraordinary, 
by  the  name  of  Blanch  Lyon,   having  obtained   the   king's 
warrant  for  that  purpose.      Afterwards  he  was  made  llouge- 
Croix- pursuivant    in    ordinary,    by  virtue    of    the   king's 
letters  patent,  dated    March    18,    1640;  by  which    means 
having  a  lodging  in  the  Heralds'  office,  and  convenient  op- 
portunities,  he  spent  that  and  part  of  the  year  following, 
in   augmenting   his  collections  out  of  the   records   in   the 
Tower   and   other  places.     In    1641,  through  sir  Christo- 
pher   Hatton's  encouragement,    he  employed    himself   in 
raking  exact  draughts  of  all  the   monuments  in  Westmin- 

1    Biog.  Brit — Nichols'::  Bowyer. — Lloyd's  Memoirs,  p.  Cjl. — \Vi'sijn'<  Hi?.t 
:  -h-tnt  T.iylurs1  S.  h'>oi. 


D  U  G  D  A  L  E.  42 1 

liter-abbey,  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  and  in  many  other  ca- 
thedral and  parochial  churches  of  England  ;  particularly 
those  at  Peterborough,  Ely,  Norwich,  Lincoln,  Nevvark- 
upon-Trent,  Beverley,  Southwell,  York,  Chester,  Lich- 
field,  Tamworth,  Warwick,  &c.  The  draughts  were  taken 
by  i\Jr.  Sedgwick,  a  skilful  arms- painter,  then  servant  to 
sir  Christopher  Hatton  ;  but  the  inscriptions  were  pro- 
bably copied  by  Dugdale.  They  were  deposited  in  sir 
Christopher's  library,  to  the  end  that  the  memory  of  them 
might  be  preserved  from  the  destruction  that  then  appeared 
imminent,  for  future  and  better  times.  June  1642  he  was 
ordered  by  the  king  to  repair  to  York  ;  and  in  July  was 
commanded  to  attend  the  earl  of  Northampton,  who  was 
marching  into  Worcestershire,  and  the  places  adjacent,  in 
order  to  oppose  the  forces  raised  by  lord  Brook  for  the 
service  of  the  parliament  He  waited  upon  the  king  at 
the  battle  of  Edge-hill,  and  afterwards  at  Oxford,  where 
he  continued  with  his  majesty  till  the  surrender  of  that 
garrison  to  the  parliament  June  22,  1646.  He  was  cre- 
ated M.  A.  October  25,  1642,  and  April  16,  1644,  Ches- 
ter-heraid.  During  his  long  residence  at  Oxford,  he  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  search  of  such  antiquities,  in  the 
Bodleian  and  other  libraries,  as  he  thought  might  conduce 
towards  the  furtherance  of  the  "  Monp.sticon,"  then  de- 
signed by  Roger  Dodsworth  and  himself;  as  also  whatever 
might  relate  to  the  history  of  the  ancient  nobility  of  this 
realm,  of  which  he  made  much  use  in  his  Baronage. 

After  the  surrender  of  Oxford  upon  articles,  Dugdale, 
having  the  benefit  of  them,  and  having  compounded  for 
his  estate,  repaired  to  London  ;  where  he  and  Dodsworth 
proceeded  vigorously  in  completing  their  collections  out 
of  the  Tower  records  and  Cottonian  library.  He  suffered 
a  short  avocation  in  1648,  when  he  attended  lord  and  lady 
Hatton  to  Paris  ;  but,  returning  to  England  in  two  months, 
he  pursued  with  his  coadjutor  the  work  he  had  undertaken. 
When  they  were  ready,  the  booksellers  not  caring  to  ven- 
ture upon  so  large  and  hazardous  a  work,  they  printed  at 
their  own  charge  the  first  volume,  which  was  published  in 
1655,  in  folio,  under  the  title  of  "  Monasticon  Anglica- 
num,"  adorned  with  the  prospects  of  abbies,  churches, 
&c.  The  second  volume  was  published  in  folio,  in  1661. 
These  two  volumes  were  collected  and  totally  written  by 
Dodsworth :  but  Dugdale  took  great  pains  in  methodizing 
and  disposing  the  materials,  in  making  several  indexes  to 


422  D  U  G  D  A  L  E. 

them,  and  in  correcting  them  at  the  press ;  for  Dodsworth 
died  in  1654,  bet'ore  the  tenth  part  of  the  first  volume  was 
printed  otF.  (See  DODSWORTH).  A  third  volume  was 
published  in  1673.  These  three  volumes  contain  chiefly 
the  foundation-charters  of  the  monasteries  at  their  first 
erection,  the  donation-charters  in  after-times  being  pur- 
posely omiited  ;  but  the  publication  of  them  was  produc- 
tive of  many  law-suits,  by  the  revival  of  old  writings  ;  and 
,the  puritans  were  highly  offended  at  it,  as  they  looked 
upon  it  as  a  large  step  towards  introducing  popery.  The 
Monasticon  being  almost  the  only  one  of  our  books  which 
finds  a  ready  admittance  into  the  libraries  of  monks,  it  has 
on  that  account  become  scarce. 

The  general  preface  to  the  "  Monasticon"  was  drawn 
tip  by  the  learned  sir  John  Marsham,  and  is  followed  by  a 
short  view  of  the  first  institution  of  the  monastic  life. 
Great  part  of  the  impression  of  the  third  volume  was  acci- 
dentally burnt,  and  that  is  now  of  course  the  scarcest. 
The  variations  in  the  price  of  these  volumes  have  been 
singular.  Winston  informs  us  that  in  1728,  they  sold  for 
18/.,  and  in  1764  for  only  seven  ;  but  of  late  they  have 
risen  to  50/.  The  first  volume  was  reprinted  with  large 
additions,  in  1682  ;  and  the  whole  was  abridged  in  1695, 
by  James  Wright,  author  of  the  "  History  of  Rutlandshire." 
Another  epitome,  by  an  anonymous  writer,  was  published 
in  1718.  Great  additions  were  made  to  the  Monasticon 
itself  in  t(  The  History  of  the  ancient  Abbeys,  Monasteries, 
Hospitals,  Cathedral  and  Collegiate  Churches,"  by  John  Ste- 
phens, gen'.  This  work,  which  contains  in  folio,  two  addi- 
tional volumes  to  sir  William  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  appear- 
ed in  1722  and  1723.  Mr.  Peck  promised  a  fourth  volume 
of  the  Monasticon,  and  in  1735,  told  the  world  that  it  was  in 
great  forward  ness.  He  left  behind  him  on  this  subject,  some 
curious  manuscript  volumes,  in  4to,  now  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, some  particulars  concerning  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
Anecdotes  of  Mr.  Bowyer,  vol.  I.  p.  518,  and  a  full  enu- 
meration of  their  contents  in  Ayscough's  Catalogue,  vol.  I. 
p.  55 — 67.  We  have,  however,  at  length  the  prospect  of 
a  much  improved  edition,  which  has  been  undertaken  by 
the  rev.  Bulkeley  Bandinell,  F.  S.  A.  principal  librarian  of 
the  Bodleian  ;  and  which,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  part 
delivered  in  July  (1813)  to  the  subscubers,  may  be  justly 
praised  for  the  accuracy,  splendour,  and  spirit  of  the 
learned  editor  and  proprietors. 


D  U  G  D  A  L  E.  i23 

In  the  mean  time  he  printed  at  his  own  charge,  and 
published  in  1656,  "  The  Antiquities  of  Warwickshire  ii- 
lustr  ted  ;  from  records,  leiger-books,  manuscripts,  char- 
ters, evidences,  tombs,  and  arms;  beautified  with  maps, 
prospects,  and  portraitures,"  folio.  The  author  tells  us 
in  his  preface,  that  he  spent  the  greatest  part  of  his  time, 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  in  accomplishing  this  work  ; 
which  indeed  is  reckoned  his  master- piece,  and  is  allowed 
to  be  one  ot  the  best  methodized  and  most  accurate  ac- 
counts that  ever  was  written  of  this  nature.  A  second 
edition  was  published  in  1730,  "  in  two  volumes,  printed 
from  a  copy  corrected  by  the  author  himself,  and  with  the 
original  copper-plates.  The  whole  revised,  augmented, 
and  continued  down  to  this  present  time,  by  William 
Thomas,  D.  D.  some  time  rector  of  Exhall,  in  the  same 
county*."  While  this  work  was  printing,  which  was  for 
near  a  year  and  a  half,  Dugdale  continued  in  London,  for 
the  sake  of  correcting  the  press;  during  which  time  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  collecting  materials  for  another 
work,  which  he  published  in  1658.  "The  History  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  in  London,"  folio.  A  second  edition  of 
this  curious  work,  corrected  and  enlarged  by  the  author's 
own  hand,  was  published  in  1716,  in  folio,  by  Edward 
Maynard,  D.  D.  rector  of  Boddington,  in  Northampton- 
shire; to  which  is  prefixed  his  life  written  by  himself,  from 
which  these  memorials  of  him  are  chiefly  extracted.  Five 
of  the  original  plates  being  lost,  five  new  ones  were  en- 
graved for  this  second  edition  ;  to  which  are  great  additions 
in  several  places,  and  particularly  a  new  introduction. 

*  The  testimony  of  Mr.  Gough  to  of  his  having  an  opportunity  to  call 
sir  William  Dugdale's  "  Antiquities  of  on  a  gentleman  who  had  large  records 
Warwickshire  illustrated"  is,  that  "  it  and  other  materials;  hut,  because  he 
must  stand  at  the  head  of  all  our  county  was  not  at  home,  though  he  haJ  left 
histories.  Sir  Greville  Verney  cor-  word  he  «oon  should  be,  Thomas  eon- 
reeled  the  map,  and  gave  many  draw-  tented  himself  with  inspecting  the 
ings  of  monuments  with  his  own  hand,  chinch.  The  Hundreds  are  very  in- 
Dugdale  himself  had  drawn  the  inonu-  correctly  copied  from  Beigbton's  large 
ments  of  the  Ferrars  family  at  Badley,  Survey."  lingdale's  original  edition, 
ready  for  engraving;  but  the  heir  of  with  Hollar's  plates,  was  reprinted  by 
the  family  refusing  to  contribute  any  subscription,  in  1765,  by  a  bookseller 
thing  towards  the  charge  thereof,  at  Coventry  ;  but  in  so  negligent  a 
and  it  not  being  proper  for  sir  VVil-  manner  was  the  publication  executed, 
liam  to  undergo  it  totally,  they  were  that  some  of  the  last  sheets  were  worked 
omitted."  Concerning  Dr.  Thomas,  off  on  the  coarsest  paper.  The  au- 
who  published  the  edition  of  1730,  Mr.  thor's  grandson,  Richard  Geast,  esq. 
Gough  informs  us,  that  he  was  very  of  Blythe-hall,  in  the  county  of  War- 
careless  in  his  accounts,  and  took  very  wick,  recovered  the  plates  by  a  suit  in 
little  pains  for  information.  "  I  have  chancery, 
heard,"  adds  Mr.  Gough,  "  an  instance 


424  D  U  G  D  A  L  E. 

Besides  these  there  is  an  account  of  the  new  building  of 
St.  P.nil's  to  1685  ;  with  a  catalogue  of  the  several  bene- 
factors, and  the  sums  they  gave  towards  it  ;  and,  "  An 
historical  Account  of  the  Cathedral  and. collegiate  Churches 
of  York,  Hippon,  Southwell,  Beverly,  Durham,  and  Car- 
lisle ;"  of  which,  however,  the  first  four  appear  to  have 
been  by  sir  Thomas  Herbert,  and  the  two  last  are  pro- 
bably not  by  Dugdale. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  Dugdale  was,  through 
chancellor  Hyde's  recommendation,  advanced  to  the  office 
of  Norroy  king  at  arms  ;  and  in  1662  he  published  "  The 
History  of  Imbanking  and  Draining  of  divers  Fens  and 
Marshes,  both  in  foreign  parts  and  in  this  kingdom,  and 
of  the  improvement  thereby.  Extracted  from  records,  ma- 
nuscripts, and  other  authentic  testimonies.  Adorned  with 
sundry  maps,  &c."  This  work  was  written  at  the  request 
of  the  lord  Gorges,  sir  John  Marsham,  and  others,  who 
were  adventurers  in  draining  the  Great  Level,  which  extends 

O  7 

itself  into  a  considerable  part  of  the  counties  of  Cambridge, 
Huntingdon, Northampton,  Norfolk, and  Suffolk*.  Aboutthe 
same  time  he  completed  the  second  volume  of  sir  Henry  Spel- 
man's  Councils,  and  published  it  in  If .64,  under  this  title  : 
"  Concilia,  decreta,  leges,  constitutiones  in  re  ecclesiarum 
orbis  Britannici,  &c.  ah  introitu  Normannorum,  A.D.  1066, 
ad  exutum  papam  A.  D.  1531.  Accesserunt  etiam  alia  ad 
rem  ecclesiasricam  spectantia,"  &c.  Archbishop  Sheldon 
and  lord  Clarendon  had  been  the  chief  promoters  of  this 
work,  and  employed  Dugdale  upon  it ;  and  what  share  he 
had  in  it  will  appear  from  hence,  that  out  of  2  "4  articles, 
of  which  that  volume  consists,  191  are  of  his  collecting; 
being  those  marked  (*)  in  the  list  of  the  contents  at  the  be- 

*  This  valuable  book  being  become  Temple,    barrister  at   law,    from  the 

extreme!}'    -carre,   owing   to   many  of  author's  own  copy,  under  the  >riginal 

the  comes   having   been    burnt  in  the  title,  wiih  the  addition  of  three  indexes; 

lire  ot  L'.ndou,  and  a   person  in  the  one  of  the  principal   matters,  tht»  se- 

Fens   hiving   published    proposals  for  cond  of  names,  and  the  i bint  of  places, 

reprinting  it  by  subscription,  wiih  new  making  eleven  addi  i  .nai  slv  els,  Loncl. 

pi  i  e<,    the    rorporation    of    Bedford  177'2,  fol.     The  original  plaies  which 

Level,  who  were  more  particularly  in-  remained     in    the    possession    of    Mr. 

terested   in   a   second    edition,  readily  Geast,  and   wanted  no  touching,  were 

undertook  one.     Upon  application  to  used.     It  was  Mr.  Geast's  intention  to 

Richard  Geast,  esq.  of  Hlythe-hall,  co.  have  proceeded  with  the  other  paits  of 

Warwick,    a    lineal    maternal  descen-  bis    learned  ancestor's  works,  but  the 

dant  of  the  author,  he  <ie  ned   that  it  restraint    laid    at  that  time    upon  iite- 

niight  be  conducted  entirely  at  his  own  rary   prop  rty  effectua  ly  diverted  his 

expense.      It  was   accordingly  printed  thoughts  from  an  expense  which  a  pe- 

undcr  the  inspect  ion  of  their  registrar,  riod  of  fourteen  years  could  never  t« 

Charles  Naison  Cole,  esq.  of  the  Inner  expected  to  repay. 


DUGDALE.  425 

ginning  of  the  volume.  The  same  great  personages  em- 
ployed him  also  to  publish  the  second  part  of  that  learned 
knight's  "  Glossary."  The  first  part  was  published  in 
1626,  folio,  and  afterwards  considerably  augmented  and 
corrected  by  sir  Henry.  He  did  not  live  to  finish  the  se- 
cond, but  left  much  of  it  loosely  written  ;  with  observa- 
tions, and  sundry  bits  of  paper  pinned  thereto.  These 
Dugdale  took  the  pains  to  dispose  into  proper  order,  tran- 
scribing many  of  those  papers ;,  and,  having  revised  the 
first  part,  caused  both  to  be  printed  together  in  1664,  un- 
der the  title  of  "  Glossariuin  archaiologicum,  continens 
Latino-barbara,  peregrina,  obsoleta,  &  novse  significationis 
vocabula."  The  second  part,  digested  by  Dugdale,  began 
at  the  letter  M  ;  but  Wood  observes,  that  "  it  comes  far 
short  of  the  first."  There  was  another  edition  of  this  work 
in  1687. 

In  1666,  he  published  in  folio,  "  Origines  Juridiciales ; 
or,  historical  memoirs  of  the  English  laws,  courts  of  justice, 
forms  of  trial,  punishment  in  cases  criminal,  law-writers, 
law-books,  grants  and  settlements  of  estates,  degree  of 
serjeants,  inns  of  court  and  chancery,  &c."  This  book  is 
adorned  with  the  heads  of  sir  John  Clench,  sir  Edward 
Coke,  sir  Randolph  Crew,  bir  Robert  Heath,  Edward  earl 
of  Clarendon-,  to  whom  it  is  dedicated,  sir  Orlando  Bridg- 
man,  sir  John  Vaughan,  and  Mr.  Selden.  There  are  also 
plates  of  the  arms  in  the  windows  of  the  Temple-hall,  and 
other  inns  of  court.  A  second  edition  was  published  in 
1671,  and  a  third  in  1680.  Nicolson  recommends  this 
book  as  a  proper  introduction  to  the  history  of  the  laws  of 
this  kingdom.  His  next  work  was,  "  The  Baronage  of 
England,"  of  which  the  first  volume  appeared  in  1675,  and 
the  second  and  third  in  1676,  folio.  Though  the  collect- 
ing of  materials  for  this  work  cost  him,  as  he  tells  us,  a 
great  part  of  thirty  years'  labour,  yet  there  are  many  faults 
in  it;  so  many,  that  the  gentlemen  at  the  Heralds'  office  said 
they  could  not  depend  entirely  upon  its  authority.  Wood 
informs  us,  that  Dugdale  sent  to  him  copies  of  all  the  vo- 
lumes of  this  work,  with  an  earnest  desire  that  he  would 
peruse,  correct,  and  add  to  them,  what  he  could  obtain 
from  records  and  other  authorities ;  whereupon,  spending 
a  whole  long  vacation  upon  it,  he  drew  up  at  least  sixteen 
sheets  of  corrections,  but  more  additions ;  which  being 
sent  to  the  author,  he  remitted  a  good  part  of  them  into 
the  margin  of  a  copy  of  his  Baronage  on  large  paper  (which 


426  D  U  G  D  A  L  E. 

copy,  we  believe,  still  exists).  With  all  its  faults,  how- 
ever, the  work  was  so  acceptable,  that  the  year  following 
its  publication,  there  were  very  few  copies  unsold. 

In  May  iG77,  our  antiquary  was  solemnly  created  Gar- 
ter principal  king  at  arms,  and  the  day  ;ifter  received  from 
his  majesty  the  honour  of  knighthood,  much  against  his 
will,  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  his  estate.  In  1681 
he  published  "  A  short  View  of  the  late  Troubles  in  Eng- 
land ;  briefly  setting  forth  their  rise,  growth,  and  tragical 
conclusion,  &c."  folio.  This  is  perhaps  the  least  valued 
of  all  his  works,  or  rather  the  only  one  which  is  not  very 
much  valued.  He  published  also  at  the  same  time,  "The 
ancient  usage  in  bearing  of  such  ensigns  of  honour  as  are 
co'i.monly  called  Arms,  &,c."  Svo  ;  a  second  edition  of 
which  was  published  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  following, 
with  large  additions.  The  last  work  he  published,  was, 
"  A  perfect  copy  of  all  summons  of  the  nobility  to  the 
great  councils  and  parliaments  of  this  realm,  from  the  49th 
of  king  Henry  III.  until  these  present  times,  &e."  1685, 
folio.  He  wrote  some  other  pieces  relating  to  the  same 
subjects,  which  were  never  published ;  and  was  likewise 
the  chief  promoter  of  the  Saxon  Dictionary  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Somner,  printed  at  Oxford  in  1659.  His  collections 
of  materials  for  the  Antiquities  of  Warwickshire,  and  Ba- 
ronage of  England,  all  written  with  his  own  hand,  con- 
tained in  27  vois.  in  folio,  he  gave  by  will  to  the  univer- 
sity of  Oxford;  together  with  sixteen  other  volumes,  some 
of  his  own  hand-writing  ;  which  are  now  preserved  in  Ash- 
mole's  Museum.  He  gave  likewise  several  books  to  the 
Heralds'  office,  in  London,  and  procured  many  more  for 
their  library. 

At  length,  this  very  industrious  man,  contracting  a  great 
cold  at  Blythe-hall,  died  of  it  in  his  chair,  Feb.  10,  1686, 
in  his  eighty-first  }7ear  ;  and  was  interred  at  Shustoke,  in 
a  little  vault  which  he  had  caused  to  be  made  in  the  church 
there.  Over  that  vault  he  had  erected  in  his  life-time  an 
altar-tomb  of  free-stone,  and  had  caused  to  be  fixed  in 
the  wall  about  it  a  tablet  of  white  marble,  with  an  epitaph 
of  his  own  writing,  in  which  he  tells  us  of  his  ascending 
gradually  through  all  the  places  in  the  office  of  heralds,  till 
he  was  made  Garter  principal  king  of  arms. 

His  wife  died  Dec.  18,  1681,  aged  seventy-five,  after 
they  had  been  married  fifty-nine  years.  He  had  several 
children  by  her,  sons  and  daughters.  One  of  his  .daugh- 


D  U  G  D  A  L  E.  427 

ters  was  married  to  Elias  Ashmole,  esq.  All  his  sons  died 
young,  except  John,  who  was  created  M.  A.  at  Oxford,  in 
1661,  and  was  at  that  time  chief  gentleman  of  the  chamber 
to  Edward  earl  of  Clarendon,  lord  chancellor  of  England. 
In  Oct.  1675,  he  was  appointed  Windsor-herald,  upon  the 
resignation  of  his  brother-in-law,  Elias  Ashmole,  esq  and 
Norroy  king  of  arms  in  March  1686,  about  which  time  he 
was  also  knighted  by  James  II.  He  published  "  A  Cata- 
logue of  the  Nobility  of  England,  &c."  printed  at  Lon- 
don, a  large  broadside,  in  1685,  and  again,  with  additions, 
in  1690.  This  sir  John  Dugdale  died  in  1700,  leaving 
two  sons,  William  and  John,  who  both  died  single,  the 
latter  in  1749  ;  and  four  daughters,  the  third  of  whom, 
Jane,  married  Richard  Geast,  esq.  by  whom  she  had  a  son 
named  Richard,  who  took  the  name  and  arms  of  Dugdale 
only.  This  gentleman  died  in  1806,  leaving  a  son,  Dug- 
dale Stratford  Dugdale,  esq.  the  present  member  of  par- 
liament for  the  county  of  Warwick.1 

DUGUET  (JAMES  JOSEPH),  a  learned  priest  of  the  ora- 
tory, was  born  December  9,  1649,  at  Montbrison,  the  son 
of  Claude  Duguet,  king's  advocate  in  the  presidial  of  that 
city.  Having  entered  the  congregation  of  the  oratory  at 
Paris,  in  1667,  he  taught  philosophy  at  Troyes,  and  was 
afterwards  recalled  to  St.  Magloir,  at  Paris,  where  he 
gained  great  reputation,  as  professor  of  divinity,  by  his 
"  Ecclesiastical  Conferences."  Ill  health  obliged  him  to 
resign  all  his  employments  in  1680,  and  in  1685  he  quitted 
the  oratory,  and  retired  to  M.  Arnauld,  at  Brussels ;  but 
returned  to  Paris  afterwards,  where  he  lived  in  a  very  re- 
tired manner,  at  the  house  of  M.  the  president  de  Menars, 
1690,  where  he  continued  till  the  death  of  that  magistrate 
and  his  wife.  He  was  afterwards  frequently  forced  to 
change  his  dwelling  and  country,  in  consequence  of  his 
opposition  to  the  Constitution  Unigenitus.  He  was  suc- 
cessively in  Holland,  at  Troyes,  Paris,  &c.  and  died  in 
the  last-named  city  October  25,  1733,  aged  eighty-four. 
His  works  are  numerous,  and  well  written  in  French.  The 
principal  are,  1.  "  Lettres  de  Piete  et  de  Morale,"  9  vols, 
12mo;  2.  "  La  Conduite  d'une  Dame  Chretienne,"  12mo; 
3.  "  Traite  de  la  Priere  publique,  et  des  Saints  Mysteres," 
12mo;  4.  "Traite  dogmatique  sur  1'Eucharistie,  sur  les 
Exorcismes,  et  sur  1'Usure."  The  three  last  are  much 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Noble's  College  of  Arms. — Wood's  Fast*,  vol.  II, 


428  D  U  G  U  E  T. 

admired  by  Catholics,    and   are  printed  together,    iv 
12uio;    5.   "   Commentaires  sur  1'Ouvra;- 

no;  6.  "  Sur  Job,"  3  torn,  in   4  vols.    12mo;   ~, 
la    Genese,"    6    vols.    12mo  ;     8.    "    Explication    sur    les 
Pseaumes,"   5  torn,  in  8  vols.  12mo;  9.  "  Explication   des 
Rois,   Esdras,  et  Nehem  om.  in  7  no;    10. 

t(  Explication  du  Cantique  des  Cantiques,  et  de  la  S;. 

»ls.  12mo ;    11.  "Explication   sur   Uuie,  Jonas,  et  Ha- 
bacuc,"   6  torn,  in  7  vols.  12u»o;  >ur  1' In- 

telligence  de  1'Ecriture   Sainte,"    l_'mo.     The    preface  to 
this  work  is  by  M.  d'Asfeld.      13.   "Explication   du    V 
tere  de  la  Passion  de  N.  S.  J.  C."   9  toai.  in  1  j-  vo! 
14.   "  Les  Characters  de  la  Chantey  12mo;    15.  "  Traiie 
des  Principes  de  la   Foi    Chretienne,"  3   vols.    12mo;    16. 
"  De  1'EduCfition  d'un  Prince,"  4to,  or  in  4  vols.  12mo; 
17.   "  Conferences  Eccle.-.iastiques,"  2  vols.  4to ;    18.  '• 
sus  crucifi^/'     1    vol.   or  2  vols.    12mo;    and    some  other 
pieces,  which   procured  him  considerable  reputation  while 
works  of  piety  remained  popular  in  >  h^tory, 

and  an  analysis  of  his  work  on  the  education  of  a  prince,  may 
•  •n  in  our  third  authority.' 

DU  HALDE.  ^LDE. 

DU  HAM  I          Set   HA  MEL. 

DUiS^OURG  or  DUSBURG  (PrrtR  OF),  the  author 
of  a  Prussian  Chronicle,  flourished  in  the  beginning  oi  the 
fourteenth  century,  as  appears  by  the  dedication  of  tiiat 
work.  He  was  probably  born  at  Duisbourg,  in  the  duchy  of 
Cleves,  and  took  his  name  from  the  pla  iativity.  His 

"  Chronicle  ol  Prussia"  contains  the  history  of  that  king- 
dom froni  1226  to  1325,  is  written  in  Latin,  und 
tiuued    by  an   anonymous   hand,   to    14_>-       Rartkoock,  a 
ied  German,   published  an  edition  of  it  in  4to,  in  1 
nineteen  dissertations,  which  throw  considerable  1 
on  the  early  history  of  Prussia.     About   1340,   Nicolas  Je- 
roschin,  a  chaplain  of  the  Teutonic  order,  trans>late>l  this 
Chronicle  into  German  verse,   which  was  continued   in  the 
same  by  Wigand  of  Marpur^,  as  far  as  1394.     Duisbourg 
himself  was  a  priest  of  the  Teutonic  order  in  Prussia,   but 
we  have  no  farther  account  of  his  i 

DUKE  (RiCHARD),  was  a  divine  and  a  poet,  the  effu- 
sions of  whose  muse  have  been  honoured  with  a  place  in 
Dr  Johnson's  collection,  but  of  whose  early  history  little 

1  Moreri.— Did.  His-t.— -Works  of  the  Learnt-d  for  1740.        *  M'- 


DUKE.  429 

is  known,  nor  do  we  know  who  his  parents  were,  or  where 
he  was  born.      His  grammatical  education  he  received  un- 
der the  famous   Dr.    Busby,    at  Westminster-school,   into 
wnich  he  was   admitted   in    1670,  and   from  which  lie   v.  as 
elected  in  1675,   to  Trinity- college,   Cambridge.      In  1673 
he   took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  and   that   of  M.  A.  in  1682. 
He  became   likewise  a  fellow  of  the  college,  and  it  is  re- 
lated that  he  was  for  some  time  tutor  to  the  duke  of  Rich- 
mond.     Having  entered  into  holy  orders,  he  was  presented 
to  the  rectory  of  Blaby,  in  Leicestershire,  in  1687-8,  made 
a  prebendary  of  Gloucester,   and  in  1688  chosen  a  procior 
in  convocation  tor  that  church,  and  was  chaplain  to  queen 
Anne.   In  1710  he  was  presented  by  sir  Jonathan  Trelawny, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  to  the  wealthy  living  of  Witney,   in 
Oxfordshire,  which,  however,  he  enjoyed  but  a  few  months; 
for,   on  the   10th  of  February,    1710-11,  having  returned 
from  an  entertainment,  he  was  found  dead  the  next  morning. 
When  Mr.  Duke  left  the  university,   being  conscious  of 
his  powers,  he  enlisted  himself  among  the  wits  of  the  age. 
He   was  in  particular  the  familiar  friend   ot    Otway,   and 
engaged,  among  other  popular  names,  in   the  transla- 
tions of  Ovid  and  Juvenal.      From  his  writings  he  appears 
not    to    have  been    ill-qualified   for  poetical   composition. 
"  In  his  Review,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,   "  though  unfinished, 
are  some  vigorous  lines.      His  poems  are  not   below  me- 
diocrity ;   nor  have  I  found   in  them  much  to   be  praised." 
With  the  wit,   Mr.   Duke  seems  to  have  shared  the  disso- 
luteness of  the  times  ;   for   some  of  his   compositions  are 
such    as  he  must  nave  reviewed   with   detestation   in    his 
later   days.     This  was  especially  the  case  with   regard  to 
two  of  his  poems  ;  the  translation  of  one  of  the  elegies  of 
Ovid,  and  the  first  of  the  three  songs.     "  Perhaps,"  ob- 
serves Dr.  Johnson,   "  like  >ome  other  foolish  young  men, 
he  rather  talked  than  lived  viciously,  in   an  age  when   he 
that  would  be  thought  a  wit  was  afraid   to  say  his  prayers  ; 
and  whatever  might  have  been  bad  in  the  first  part  of  his 
life  was  surely  condemned  and  reformed  by  his  better  judg- 
ment ;"  and  this,  it  is  hoped,  was  the  case. 

Mr.  Duke,  in  his  character  as  a  divine,  published  three 
sermons  in  his  life-time.  The  first  was  on  the  imitation 
of  Christ,  preached  before  the  queen  in  1703,  from  1  John, 
ii.  6.  The  second  was  from  Psalm  xxv.  14,  and  was  like- 
wise preached  before  the  queen  in  1704.  The  third  was 
an  assize  sermon,  on  Christ's  kingdom,  from  John  xviii. 


•*30  DUKE. 

36,  and  published  in  the  same  year.  In  1714,  fifteen  of 
his  sermons  on  several  occasions,  were  printed  in  one  vol. 
8vo,  which  were  held  in  good  reputation,  and  are  spoken 
of  in  strong  terms  of  commendation  by  Dr.  Henry  Felton, 
who,  in  his  Dissertation  on  reading  the  Classics,  says, 
"  Mr.  Duke  may  be  mentioned  under  the  double  capacity 
of  a  poet  and  a  divine.  He  is  a  bright  example  in  the  se- 
veral parts  of  writing,  whether  we  consider  the  originals, 
his  translations,  paraphrases,  or  imitations.  But  here  I 
can  only  mention  him  as  a  divine,  with  this  peculiar  com- 
mendation, that  in  his  sermons,  besides  liveliness  of  wit, 
purity  and  correctness  of  style,  and  justness  of  argument, 
we  see  many  fine  allusions  to  the  ancients,  several  beauti- 
ful passages  handsomely  incorporated  in  the  train  of  his 
own  thoughts ;  and,  to  say  all  in  a  word,  classic  learning 
and  a  Christian  spirit."1 

DUKER  (CiiAKLEs  ANDREW),  an  eminent  classical 
editor,  was  born  in  1670,  at  Unna,  in  Westphalia,  and 
after  receiving  the  elements  of  education  at  home,  was 
sent  to  a  school  at  Ham,  and  afterwards,  ubout  1690,  to 
the  university  of  Franeker,  where  he  studied  under  Peri- 
zonius,  to  whom  he  used  to  attribute  the  proficiency  he 
was  afterwards  enabled  to  make,  and  the  fame  he  acquired 
by  his  critical  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin.  In  1701-  he 
came  to  the  Hague,  and  was  afterwards  appointed  profes- 
sor of  ancient  history  at  Utrecht,  where  he  acquired  vast 
reputation  for  his  general  erudition,  and  particularly  his 
philological  knowledge.  He  died  at  Meyderick,  near 
Duisbourg,  in  Nov.  1752.  His  first  work  was  entitled 
"  Sylloge  opusculornm  variorum  de  Latinitate  Juriscon- 
sultorum  veterum,"  Leyden,  1711,  Svo,  containing  some 
curious  and  rare  pieces.  In  the  same  year  he  delivered  at 
Utrecht  his  "  Oratio  de  difficultatibus  quibusdam  inter- 
pretationis  Grammatics  veterum  Scriptorum  Graecorum  et 
Latinorurn,"  which  was  published  there  in  1716,  4to.  This 
was  followed,  l.by  his  ".Tlorus,"  Leaden,  1722,  2  vols.  Svo, 
of  which  all  bibliographers  have  spoken  with  great  praise. 
2.  "  Thucydides,"  Amst.  1731,  2  vols.  fol.  which  he  un- 
dertook at  the  express  wish  of  the  publishers,  the  Wet- 
steins  and  Smith.  This  has  long  been  considered  as  the 
best  edition,  as  it  is  the  most  valuable  in  price.  He  con- 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Johnson  and  Chalmers's  Poets. — Swift's  Works. — Nichols's  At- 
terbury,  vol.  I.  p.  1:5. 


D  U  L  C  I  N  U  S.  431 

tributed  also  notes  and  remarks  to  Drakenborch's  Livy, 
Petit's  "  Leges  Attica;,"  Ouclendorp's  Suetonius,  &C.1 

DULCINUS,  a  leader  of  a  religious  sect,  was  a  native 
ofNovara,  in  the  duchy  of  Milan.  The  sect  sometimes 
denominated  Dulcinists,  and  sometimes  the  "  sect  of  the 
apostles,"  was  founded  by  Gerard  Sagarelli,  who  was  burnt 
alive  for  his  opinions,  at  Parma,  in  1300.  According  to 
Mosheim,  the  Dulcinists  aimed  at  introducing  among 
Christians  the  simplicity  of  the  primitive  time:-;,  especially 
the  manner  of  life  that  was  observed  by  the  apostles,  as 
nearly  as  could  be  collected  from  their  writings.  On  the 
death  of  the  founder,  Dulcinus  boldly  headed  the  st  :t, 
and  avowed  his  faith  in  the  predictions  of  Sagarelli,  viz. 
that  the  church  of  Rome  would  speedily  be  destroyed,  and 
that  a  pure  system  of  religion  would  be  built  on  its  ruins, 
and  that  these  predictions  might  be  fulfilled,  the  Dulcinists 
for  two  years,  by  force  of  arms,  maintained  their  ground 
against  the  supporters  of  the  papal  interests  ;  which  ter- 
minated, however,  in  the  capture  and  death  of  their 
leader. 2 

DUMEE  (JOAN),  a  learned  French  lady,  was  born  at 
Paris,  and  instructed  from  her  earliest  infancy  in  the  belles 
lettres.  She  was  married  very  young;  but  scarcely  had 
she  attained  the  age  of  seventeen,  when  her  husband  was 
killed  in  Germany  at  the  head  of  a  company  he  commanded. 
She  took  advantage  of  the  liberty  her  widowhood  gave  her, 
to  apply  her  mind  to  study,  particularly  that  of  astronomy, 
and  published,  in  1680,  at  Paris,  a  quarto  volume,  under 
the  title  of  "  Discourses  of  Copernicus  touching  the  Mo- 
bility of  the  Earth,  by  Mad.  Jeanne  Dtimee  of  Paris."  She 
explains  with  clearness  the  three  motions  attributed  to  the 
enrth  ;  and  exhibits  the  arguments  that  establish  or  militate 
against  the  system  of  Corpernicus  with  impartiality. 3 

DUMONT  (JOHN),  baron  of  Carlscroon,  historiographer 
to  the  emperor,  who  was  forced  to  fly  to  Holland  on  ac- 
count of  religion,  after  having  served  without  much  benefit 
in  France,  is  known  by  several  writings,  although  we  know 
little  of  his  personal  history.  The  chief  of  them  are  :  1. 
"  Des  Memoires  Politiques,  pour  servir  a  Pintelhgence  de 
la  paix  de  Ilyswic,"  Hague,  1699,  4  vols.  12mo,  the  autho- 
rities of  which  are  comprised  also  in  4  vols.  1705,  12mo. 

1  Saxii  Onomast.  vol.  VI.  where  Saxins  gives  a  "  Laudatio,"  which  is  a  piece 
of  declamation  in  praise  of  Duker,  without  much  personal  history, 

2  Moreri. — Moshei-m.  3  ]>jct.  Hjst, 


432  D  U  M  O  N  T. 

This  instructive  and  interesting  performance  contains  an 
abstractor  e\ery  thing  or  moment  that  passed  from  the 
peace  of  Minister  to  the  end  of  the  year  1676.  2.  "  Voyages 
en  France,  en  Italie,  en  Aiiemagne,  aMalte,  et  en  Turkic," 
1699,  4  vols.  12mo.  3.  "Corps  univers^lle  diplomatique 
du  droit  des  gens;"  containing  the  treaties  of  alliance,  of 
peace,  and  of  commerce,  from  the  peace  of  Minister  to 
1709,  Amsterdam,  1726,  8  vols.  folio.  This  work  is  not 
exempt  from  fanlts,  but  neither  is  it  without  utility.  With 
the  addition  of  the  treaties  made  before  the  Christian  n>ra, 
published  by  Barbeyrac,  Rousset,  and  Saint-Priest,  and 
those  of  Munster  and  Osnaburg,  they  together  form  a  col- 
lection of  19  volumes  in  folio.  4.  "  Hist,  militaire  du 
prince  Eugene  de  Savoie,  du  prince  et  due  de  Marlbo- 
rough,  &c."  Hague,  1729 — 1747,  3  vols,  folio.  5.  "  Let- 
tres  Historiques,"  from  January  1652  to  1710.  Another 
person,  of  less  ability  than  Dumont,  has  continued  them. 
6.  Other  collections,  tolerably  numerous.  This  author 
wrote  in  a  languid  and  incorrect  manner;  but  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  industrious  inquiry  in  all  he  has  left  us.  He 
died  about  the  year  1726,  in  an  advanced  age.1 

DUN  BAR  (WILLIAM),  an  eminent  Scotch  poet,  was 
born  about  the  year  1465,  and,  as  it  is  generally  supposed, 
although  without  much  foundation,  at  Salton,  a  village  on 
the  delightful  coast  of  the  Forth  in  East  Lothian.  This  is 
collected  from  what  Kennedy,  a  contemporary  poet,  says 
in  one  of  his  satires  ;  who  mentions  likewise  his  own  wealth, 
and  Dunbar's  poverty.  If  we  are  to  credit  the  same  author, 
Dunbar  was  related  to  the  earls  of  March  ;  but  of  this  there 
is  no  satisfactory  evidence.  In  his  youth  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  travelling  noviciate  of  the  Franciscan  order ;  but 
this  mode  of  life  not  being  agreeable  to  his  inclination,  he 
resigned  it,  and  returned  to  Scotland,  as  is  supposed,  about 
1490,  when  he  might  be  25  years  of  age.  In  his  "  Thistle 
and  Rose,"  which  was  certainly  written  in  1503,  he  speaks 
of  himself  as  a  poet  that  had  already  made  many  songs  : 
and  that  poem  is  the  composition  rather  of  an  experienced 
writer,  than  of  a  novice  in  the  art.  It  is  indeed  probable 
that  his  tales,  "  The  twa  marrit  wemen  and  the  wedo  ;" 
and,  "  The  freirs  of  Bervvik,"  (if  the  last  be  his)  were 
written  before  his  "  Thistle  and  Rose."  However  tin's 
may  have  been,  Dunbar,  after  being  the  author  of  "  The 

•  Diet.  Hist, 


D  U  N  B  A  R.  433 

gold  in  Terge,"  a  poem  rich  in  description,  and  of  many 
small  pieces  of  the  highest  merit,  died  in  old  age  about 
1530.  In  his  younger  years,  our  poet  seems  to  have  had 
great  expectations  that  his  abilities  would  have  recom- 
mended him  to  an  ecclesiastical  benetice ;  and  in  his 
smaller  poems  he  frequently  addresses  the  king  lor  that 
purpose  :  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  suc- 
cessful, although  it  may  be  thought  that  the  "Thistle  and 
Rose,"  which  was  occasioned  by  the  marriage  of  James  IV. 
king  of  Scotland,  with  Margaret  Tudor,  eldest  daughter 
of  Henry  VII.  king  of  England,  deserved  better  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  young  royal  pair.  Mr.  Pinkerton, 
in  his  list  of  Scottish  poets,  tells  us,  he  has  looked  in  vain 
over  many  calendars  of  the  characters,  &c.  of  this  period, 
to  find  Dunbar's  name;  but  suspects  that  it  was  never 
written  by  a  lawyer.  Mr.  Warton,  in  characterising  the 
Scottish  poets  of  this  time,  observes  that  the  writers  of  that 
nation  have  adorned  the  period  with  a  degree  of  sentiment 
and  spirit,  a  command  of  phraseology,  and  a  fertility  of 
imagination,  not  to  be  found  in  any  English  poet  since 
Chaucer  and  Lydgate.  "  He  might  safely  have  added," 
says  Mr.  Pinkerton,  "  not  even  in  Chaucer  or  Lydgate." 
Concerning  Dunbar,  Mr.  Warton  says,  that  the  natural 
complexion  of  his  genius  is  of  the  moral  and  didactic  cast. 
This  remark,  however,  Mr.  Pinkerton  thinks,  must  not  be 
taken  too  strictly.  "  The  goldin  Terge,"  he  adds,  "  is 
moral ;  and  so  are  many  of  his  small  pieces  :  but  humour, 
description,  allegory,  great  poetical  genius,  and  a  vast 
wealth  of  words,  all  unite  to  form  the  complexion  of  Dun- 
bar's  poetry.  He  unites,  in  himself,  and  generally  sur- 
passes the  qualities  of  the  chief  old  English  poets  ;  the 
morals  and  satire  of  Langland  ;  Chaucer's  humour,  poetry, 
and  knowledge  of  life ;  the  allegory  of  Gower ;  the  de- 
scription of  Lydgate."  This  is  a  very  high  character,  but 
surely  the  morality  of  his  poems  may  be  questioned.  Se- 
veral of  his  compositions  contain  expressions  which  appear 
to  us  grossly  profane  and  indecent ;  and  one  of  his  addresses 
to  the  queen  would  not  now  be  addressed  to  a  modern  cour- 
tezan. Even  the  most  sacred  observances  of  the  church 
are  converted  into  topics  of  ridicule ;  and  its  litanies  are 
burlesqued  in  a  parody,  the  profaneness  of  which  is  almost 
unparalleled. — The  notes  added  to  the  collection  published 
by  sir  David  Daly rm pie  in  1770  are  peculiarly  valuable; 
for  the"y  not  only  explain  and  illustrate  the  particular 
VOL.  XII.  F  F 


431-  D  U  N  B  A  R. 

expressions  and  phrases  of  the  pieces  in  question,  but  contain 
several  curious  anecdotes,  and  throw  considerable  light  on 
tl:e  manners  of  the  times.1 

DUNCAN  (ADAM,  LORD  VISCOUNT),  an  illustrious  na- 
val officer,  the  second  son  of  Alexander  Duncan,  esq.  of 
Lundie,  in  the  county  of  Angus,  in  Scotland,  by  Helen 
Haldone,  daughter  of  Mr.  Haldone,  of  Gleneagles  in  Perth- 
shire, was  born  in  the  month  of  July  1731,  and  received 
the  first  rudiments  of  education  at  Dundee,  and, appears  to 
have  been  early  intended  for  the  naval  service,  as  his  eider 
brother  Alexander  was  for  that  of  the  army,  of  which  he 
died  lieutenant-colonel  in  1771.  About  1746,  Adam  was 
put  under  the  command  of  capt.  Robert  Haldane,  who  was 
then  commander  of  the  Shoreham  frigate,  with  when)  he 
continued  two  or  three  years.  In  174y  he  was  entered  as 
a  midshipman  on  board  the  Centurion  of  50  guns,  which 
then  bore  the  broad  pendant  of  commodore  Keppel,  who 
was  appointed  commander  in  chief  on  the  Mediterranean 
station,  for  the  customary  period  of  three  years.  In  Jan. 
1755,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  by  the 
recommendation  of  commodore  Keppel,  who  knew  his 
merits  ;  and  was  appointed  to  the  Norwich,  a  fourth  rate, 
commanded  by  captain  Barrington,  and  intended  as  one 
of  the  squadron  which  was  to  accompany  Mr.  Keppel  to 
America,  with  transports  and  land  forces  under  the  com- 
mand of  general  Braddock.  After  the  arrival  of  this  arma- 
ment in  Virginia,  Mr.  Duncan  was  removed  into  the  Cen- 
turion, in  which  he  continued  until  that  ship  returned  to 
England,  and  captain  Keppel,  after  having  for  a  short  time 
commanded  the  Swiftsure,  being  appointed  to  the  Torbay 
of  74  guns,  procured  his  much  esteemed  eleve  to  be  ap- 
pointed second  lieutenant  of  that  ship.  After  remaining 
on  the  home  station  for  the  space  of  three  years,  he  pro- 
ceeded on  the  expedition  sent  against  the  French  settle- 
ment of  Goree,  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  He  was  slightly 
wounded  here  at  the  attack  of  the  fort ;  and  soon  after- 
wards rose  to  the  rank  of  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  Torbay, 
in  which  capacity  he  returned  to  England. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  subsequent  to  his  arrival, 
1759,  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  commander,  and  in 
February  1761  was  advanced  to  that  of  post  captain,  and 

1  Biogr.  Brit. — Warton's  Hist,  of  Poetry. — Pinkerton's  Ancient  Scottish  Poeti. 
— Ellis's  Specimens. — h  vine's  Lives  of  the  Scottish  Poets. 


DUNCAN.  435 

being  appointed  to  the  Valiant  of  74  guns,  he  became  again 
materially  connected,  in  respect  to  service,  with  his  ori- 
ginal friend  and  patron  Mr.  Keppel,  who  was  appointed  to 
command  the  naval  part  of  an  expedition  against  the 
French  island  of  Belleisle,  and  on  this  occasion  hoisted  his 
broad  pendant  on  board  the  Valiant.  Thence  captain  Dun- 
can repaired  with  Mr.  Keppel,  and  in  the  same  ship,  to 
the  attack  of  the  Havannah.  Keppel,  who  was  appointed 
to  command  a  division  of  the  fleet,  was  ordered  to  cover 
the  disembarkation  of  the  troops;  and,  as  the  post  of  ho- 
nour belongs  on  such  occasions,  as  of  right,  to  the  captain 
of  the  admiral,  or  commodore,  captain  Duncan  was  accord- 
ingly invested  with  the  command  of  the  boats  ;  he  was 
afterwards  very  actively  employed,  and  highly  distin- 
guished himself  during  the  siege.  When  the  town  itself 
surrendered,  he  was  dispatched  with  a  proper  force  to  take 
possession  of  the  Spanish  ships  which  had  fallen  on  that 
occasion  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  consisting  of  five 
ships  of  70  guns,  and  four  of  60.  After  the  surrender  of 
the  Havannah,  he  accompanied  Mr.  Keppel,  who  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  on  the  Jamaica  station,  in  the 
same  capacity  he  had  before  held,  and  continued  with  him 
there  till  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  when  he  returned  to 
England. 

On  the  re-commencement  of  the  war  with  France  in 
1778,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Suffolk  of  74  guns,  but  be- 
fore the  end  of  that  year  removed  into  the  Monarch  of  the 
same  rate,  which,  during  the  summer  of  1779,  was  unin- 
terruptedly employed  in  the  main  or  channel  fleet,  com- 
manded by  sir  Charles  Hardy,  who  was  obliged  to  continue 
all  this  time  on  the  defensive,  as  the  French  and  Spanish 
fleets,  now  united,  were  double  in  number  of  ships  to  what 
he  commanded.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  same  year,  the 
Monarch  was  one  of  the  ships  put  under  the  command  of 
sir  George  Bridges  Rodney,  who  was  instructed  to  force 
his  way  to  Gibraltar  through  all  impediments,  and  relieve 
that  fortress,  which  was  then  closely  blockaded  by  a  Spa- 
nish army  on  the  land  side,  and  a  flotilla  by  sea,  sufficiently 
strong  to  oppose  the  entrance  of  any  trivial  succour.  On 
Jan.  16,  1780,  the  British  fleet  being  then  off  Cape  St. 
Vincent,  fell  in  with  a  Spanish  squadron,  commanded  by 
don  Juan  de  Langara,  who  was  purposely  stationed  there 
to  intercept  sir  George,  who,  according  to  mis-information 
received  by  the  court  of  Spain,  was  supposed  to  have  only 

F  F  2 


436  D  U  N  C  A  N. 

a  squadron  of  four  ships  of  the  line.  On  this  memorable 
occasion,  although  the  Monarch  had  not  the  advantage 
which  many  other  ships  in  the  same  armament  enjoyed,  of 
being  sheathed  with  copper,  and  was  rather  foul,  and  at 
best  by  no  means  a  swift  sailer,  capt.  Duncan  was  fortu- 
nate enough  to  get  into  action  before  any  other  ship  of  the 
fleet;  and  the  St.  Augustine  of  70  guns  struck  to  him,  but 
was  so  much  disabled,  that  the  conqueror  was  obliged  to 
abandon  her,  after  taking  out  the  few  Britisn  officers  and 
seamen  who  had  been  put  on  board.  In  this  action,  of 
eleven  Spanish  ships  of  the  line  and  two  frigates,  four  were 
taken  and  remained  in  possession  of  the  English;  one  was 
blown  up  ;  three  surrendered,  but  afterwards  got  away 
much  damaged  ;  one  was  reduced  almost  to  a  wreck  ;  and 
two  others,  together  with  the  frigates,  fled  at  the  first  out- 
set, almost  without  attempting  to  make  any  resistance. 
Such  a  victory  obtained  by  nineteen  British  ships  of  the 
line  over  eleven  Spanish,  is  scarcely  a  matter  of  exultation, 
although  an  advantage,  from  the  loss  sustained  by  the 
enemy. 

Captain  Duncan  quitted  the  Monarch  not  long  after  his 
arrival  in  England,  and  did  not  receive  any  other  commis- 
sion until  the  beginning  of  1732,  when  he  was  appointed 
to  the  Blenheim  of  90  guns,  a  ship  newly  come  out  of 
clock,  after  having  undergone  a  complete  repair.  He 
continued  in  the  same  command  during  near  the  whole  of 
the  remainder  of  the  war,  constantly  employed  with  the 
channel  fleet,  commanded,  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
time,  by  the  late  earl  Howe.  Having  accompanied  his 
lordship  in  the  month  of  September  to  Gibraltar,  he  was 
stationed  to  lead  the  larboard  division  of  the  centre,  or 
commander-in-chief  's  squadron,  and  was  very  distinguish* 
edly  engaged  in  the  encounter  with  the  combined  fleets  of 
France  and  Spain,  which  took  place  off"  the  entrance  of 
the  Straits.  The  fleet  of  the  enemy  was  more  than  one 
fourth  superior  to  that  of  Britain  ;  and  yet,  had  not  the 
former  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  the  weather-gage,  it  was 
>vas  very  evident  from  the  event  of  the  skirmish  which  did 
take  place,  that  if  the  encounter  had  been  more  serious, 
the  victory  would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  completely 
decisive  against  them.  Soon  after  the  fleet  arrived  in 
England,  capt.  Duncan  removed  into  the  Foudroyant,  of 
84  guns,  one  of  the  most  favourite  ships  of  the  British 
navy  at  that  time,  which  had,  during  the  whole  preceding 


DUNCAN.  437 

part  of  the  war,  been  commanded  by  sir  John  Jervis,  now 
earl  St.  Vincent.  On  the  peace,  which  took  place  in  the 
ensuing  spring,  he  removed  into  the  Edgar  of  74  guns, 
one  of  the  guard-ships  stationed  at  Portsmouth,  and  con- 
tinued, as  is  customary  in  time  of  peace,  in  that  command 
during  the  three  succeeding  years ;  and  this  was  the  last 
commission  he  ever  held  as  a  private  captain.  On  Sept. 
14,  1789,  he  was  promoted  to  be  rear-admiral  of  the  blue, 
and  to  the  same  rank  in  the  white  squadron  on  Sept. 
22,  1790.  He  was  raised  to  be  vice-admiral  of  the  blue, 
Feb.  1,  1793;  of  the  white,  April  12,  1794;  to  be  admiral 
of  the  blue,  June  1,  1795;  and  lastly,  admiral  of  the 
white,  Feb.  14,  1799.  During  all  these  periods,  except 
the  two  last,  singular  as  it  may  appear,  the  high  merit  of 
admiral  Duncan  continued  either  unknown,  or  unregarded. 
Frequently  did  he  solicit  a  command,  and  as  often  did  his 
request  pass  uncomplied  with.  It  has  even  been  reported, 
we  know  not  on  what  foundation,  that  this  brave  man  had 
it  once  in  contemplation  to  retire  altogether  from  the  ser- 
vice, on  a  very  honourable  civil  appointment  connected 
with  the  navv. 

tt 

At  length,  however,  his  merit  burst  through  the  cloud 
which  had  so  long  obscured  it  from  public  view.  In  Fe- 
bruary 1795,  he  received  an  appointment  constituting  him 
commander  in  chief  in  what  is  called  the  North  Seas,  the 
limits  of  his  power  extending  from  the  North  Foreland, 
even  to  the  Ultima  Thule  of  the  ancients,  or  as  far  beyond 
as  the  operations  of  the  enemy  he  was  sent  to  encounter 
should  render  necessary.  He  accordingly  hoisted  his  flag 
on  board  the  Prince  George,  of  98  guns,  at  Chatham  :  but 
that  ship  being  considered  too  large  for  the  particular 
quarter  in  which  the  admiral  was  destined  to  act,  he  re- 
moved soon  afterwards  into  the  Venerable  of  74  guns,  and 
proceeded  to  carry  into  execution  the  very  important  trust 
which  was  confided  in  him. 

When  the  patience  and  unwearied  constancy  with  which 
this  brave  officer  continued  to  watch  a  cautious  and  pru- 
dent enemy,  during  the  whole  time  he  held  the  command, 
a  period  of  five  years,  are  considered,  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  difficulty  to  decide,  whether  his  many  invaluable  qua- 
lities, or  the  gallantry,  as  well  as  the  judgment,  he  dis- 
played on  the  only  opportunity  the  enemy  afforded  him  of 
contesting  with  them  the  palm  of  victory,  ought  most  to 
render  him  the  object  of  his  country's  love  and  admiration. 


433  D  U  N  C  A  N. 

The  depth  of  winter,  the  tempestuous  attacks  of  raging 
winds,  the  dangers 'peculiar  to  a  station  indefatigably  main- 
tained off  the  shoals  and  sands  which  t-nviron  the  coasts  of 
the  United  Provinces,  added  to  many  dark  and  comfortless 
nights,  all  united  to  render  the  situation,  even  of  the  com- 
mon seaman,  peculiarly  irksome :  yet,  in  the  midst  of 
these  discouraging  inconveniencies,  surrounded  as  he 
stood  on  every  side  by  perils  of  the  most  alarming  kind, 
he  never  shrunk,  even  for  a  moment,  from  his  post,  during 
the  whole  time  he  held  this  important  command.  There 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  single  month  in  which  he 
did  not  show  himself  off  the  hostile  coast  he  insulted. 

Nothing  material  took  place  beyond  the  ordinary  routine 
of  such  a  service  for  more  than  two  years.  The  occurrences 
were  confined  to  those  small  occasional  captures,  which 
must  frequently  occur  in  the  course  of  such  extensive 
commands ;  and  although  the  largest  of  the  prizes  was  of 
no  very  considerable  force,  yet  the  number  of  them  very 
sufficiently  proves  the  vigilance  of  the  commander-in- 
chief,  and  those  acting  under  his  orders.  The  Dutch  trade 
was  almost  annihilated  ;  their  merchant-vessels  captured 
in  sight  of  their  own  ports ;  and  the  whole  coast  so  com- 
pletely blockaded,  that  few  vessels  could  venture  to  sea 
and  escape  the  vigilance  of  the  British  fleet,  or  its  out- 
cruisers.  The  fleet  belonging  to  the  United  Provinces, 
though  consisting  of  fifteen  ships  of  the  line,  six  frigates, 
and  five  sloops  of  war,  was  also  obliged  to  content  itself 
with  remaining  quietly  in  port,  or  in  taking  short  inoffen- 
sive cruises,  at  ua.es  when  the  want  of  water  or  provisions 
compelled  the  British  ships  to  repair  for  a  few  clays  to  their 
own  coasts.  In  the  month  of  June  1797,  they  even  pa- 
tiently suffered  themselves  to  be  blocked  up  by  admiral 
Duncan,  though  his  force  was  for  -  \  eral  days  far  interior 
to  theirs,  owing  to  the  unhappy  aiul  disgraceful  spirit  of 
mutiny  which  at  that  time  appeared  throughout  almost  the 
whole  British  navy. 

At  this  most  alarming  and  unprecedented  crisis,  the 
conduct  of  admiral  Duncan  must  not  be  forgotten,  although 
we  have  no  inclination  to  revive  the  memory  of  that  un- 
natural rebellion  by  a  particular  narrative.  When  the 
mutiny  raged  in  his  squadron  in  a  most  awful  manner,  and 
when  left  only  with  three  ships,  he  still  remained  firm  in 
his  station  off  the  Texel,  and  succeeded  in  keeping  the 
Dutch  navy  from  proceeding  to  sea ;  a  circumstance,  in 


DUNCAN.  439 

all  probability,  of  as  high  consequence  to  the  nation  as  his 
subsequent  victory.  His  behaviour  at  the  time  of  the  mu- 
tiny will  be  best  seen  from  the  speech  which  he  made  to 
the  crew  of  his  own  ship,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1797,  and 
which,  as  a  piece  of  artless  and  affecting  oratory,  cannot 
but  be  admired  by  the  most  fastidious  taste,  His  men 
being  assembled,  the  admiral  thus  addressed  them  from 
the  quarter-deck:  "  My  lads  —  I  once  more  call  you  to- 
gether with  a  sorrowful  heart,  from  what  I  have  lately  seen 
of  the  disaffection  of  the  fleets  ;  I  call  it  disaffection,  for 
the  crews  have  no  grievances.  To  be  deserted  by  my  fleet, 
in  the  face  of  an  enemy,  is  a  disgrace  which  I  believe 
never  before  happened  to  a  British  admiral ;  nor  could  I 
have  supposed  it.  My  greatest  comfort,  under  God,  is, 
that  I  have  been  supported  by  the  officers,  seamen,  and 
marines  of  this  ship;  for  which,  with  a  heart  overflowing 
with  gratitude,  I  request  you  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks. 
I  flatter  myself  much  good  may  result  from  your  example, 
by  bringing  those  deluded  people  to  a  sense  of  the  duty 
which  they  owe,  not  only  to  their  king  and  country,  but  to 
themselves.  The  British  navy  has  ever  been  the  support 
of  that  liberty  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  by  our 
ancestors,  and  which,  I  trust,  we  shall  -maintain  to  the 
latest  posterity  ;  and  that  can  only  be  done  by  unanimity 
and  obedience.  The  ship's  company,  and  others  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  by  their  loyalty  and  good  order, 
deserve  to  be,  and  doubtless  :,v'//  be,  the  favourites  of  a 
grateful  country  ;  they  will  also  have,  from  their  individual 
feelings,  a  comfort  which  must  be  lasting,  and  not  like 

O     *  O* 

the  fleeting  and  false  confidence  of  those  who  have  swerved 
from  their  duty.  It  has  often  been  my  pride  with  you  to 
look  into  the  Texel,  and  see  a  foe  which  dreaded  coming 
out  to  meet  us.  My  pride  is  now  humble  indeed  !  My 
feelings  are  not  easily  to  be  expressed  !  Our  cup  has  over- 
flowed, and  made  us  wanton.  The  all-wise  Providence 
has  given  us  this  check  as  a  warning,  and  I  hope  we  shall 
improve  by  it.  On  Him,  then,  let  us  trust,  where  our 
only  security  can  be  found.  I  find  there  are  many  good 
men  among  us  ;  for  my  own  part,  I  have  had  full  confi- 
dence of  all  in  this  ship  ;  and  once  more  beg  to  express  my 
approbation  of  »your  conduct.  May  God,  who  has  thus  so 
far  conducted  you,  continue  to  do  so ! — and  may  the 
British  navy,  the  glory  and  support  of  our  country,  be 
restored  to  its  wonted  splendour,  and  be  not  only  the 


,440  DUNCAN. 

bulwark  of  Britain,  but  the  terror  of  the  world  ! — But  this 
can  only  be  effected  by  a  strict  adherence  to  our  duty  and 
obedience  ;  and   let  us  pray   that  the  Almighty  God  may 
keep  us  in  the  right  way  of  thinking.     God  bless  you  all!" 
The  crew  of  the  Venerable  were  so  affected  by  this  im- 
pressive address,  that,  on  retiring,  there  was  not  a   dry 
eye  among  them.     On  the  suppression  of  the  mutiny,  the 
admiral  resumed  his  station   with  his  whole  fleet  off  the 
coast  of  Holland,  either  to  keep  the  Dutch  squadron  in  the 
Texel,  or  to   attack  them  if  they  should  attempt  to  come 
out.     It  has  since  been  discovered,  that  the  object  of  the 
Batavian  republic,  in  conjunction  with  France,  was  to  in- 
vade Ireland,  where,  doubtless,  they  would  have  been  cor- 
dially welcomed  by  numerous  bodies  of  the  disaffected. 
Hence  it  will   be   seen   that   the  object  of  watching  and 
checking  the  motions  of  the  Dutch  admiral  was  of  the 
Utmost  consequence.     After  a  long  and  very  vigilant  atten- 
tion  to  the  important  trust  reposed   in   him,   the   English 
admiral   was  necessitated  to   repair  to  Yarmouth  Roads  to 
refit.     The    Batavian    commander    seixed    this  favourable 
interval,  and  proceeded  to  sea.     That  active  officer,  cap- 
tain sir  H.  Trollope,  however,  was  upon  the  look-out,  and, 
having  discovered  the  enemy,  dispatched  a  vessel  with  the 
glad  intelligence  to  admiral  Duncan,  who  lost  not  an  instant 
of  time,  but  pushed  out  at   orfce,  and   in  the  morning  of 
the  1 1th  of  October  fell  in  with  captain  Trollope's  squadron 
of  observation,  with  a  signal   flying   for   an  enemy  to  the 
leeward.     By   a  masterly    manoeuvre  the   admiral  placed 
himself  between   them  and  the  Texel,  so  as  to  prevent 
them  from  re-entering  without  risking  an  engagement.    An 
action  accordingly  took   place  between  Camperdown  and 
Egmont,  in   nine   fathoms  water,  and  within  five  miles  of 
the  coast.     The  admiral's  own  ship,  in  pursuance  of  a  plan 
of  naval  evolution   which    he  had  long  before  determined 
to  carry  into  effect,  broke   the   enemy's   line,  and  closely 
engaged  the  Dutch  admiral  De  Winter,  who,  after  a  most 
gallant  defence,  was  obliged  to  strike.     Eight  ships  were 
taken,  two  of  which  carried  flags  !   All  circumstances  con- 
sidered— the  time  of  the  year,  the  force  of  the  enemy,  and 
the  nearness  to  a  dangerous  shore — this  action  will  be  pro- 
nounced, by  every  judge  of  nautical  affairs,  to  be  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  that  graces  our  annals.     The  nation  was 
fully  sensible  of  the  merit  and  consequence  of  this  glorious 
victory  ;  politicians  beheld   in  it  the  annihilation  of  the 


DUNCAN,  441 

designs  of  our  combined  enemies;  naval  men  admired  the 
address  and  skill  which  were  displayed  by  the  English  com- 
mander in  his  approaches  to  the  attack  ;  and  the  people  at 
large  were  transported  with  admiration,  joy,  and  gratitude. 
The  honours  which  were  instantly  conferred  upon  the 
venerable  admiral  received  the  approbation  of  all  parties. 
October  21,  1797,  he  was  created  lord  viscount  Duncan, 
of  Camperdovvn,  and  baron  Duncan,  of  Lnndie,  in  the 
shire  of  Perth.  On  his  being  introduced  into  the  house  of 
peers,  on  Nov.  8,  the  lord  chancellor  communicated  to  him 
the  thanks  of  the  house,  and  in  his  speech  said,  "  He  con- 
gratulated his  lordship  upon  his  accession  to  the  honour  of 
a  distinguished  seat  in  that  place,  to  which  his  very  meri- 
torious and  unparalleled  professional  conduct  hail  deservedly 
raised  him  ;  that  conduct  (the  chancellor  added)  was  such 
as  not  only  merited  the  thanks  of  their  lordships'  house, 
but  the  gratitude  and  applause  of  the  oountry  at  large  ;  it 
had  been  instrumental,  under  the  auspices  of  Providence, 
in  establishing  the  security  of  his  majesty's  dominions,  and 
frustrating  the  ambitious  and  destructive  designs  of  the 
enemy."  A  pension  of  2000/.  per  annum  was  also  granted 
his  lordship,  for  himself  and  the  two  next  heirs  of  the 
peerage. 

After  the  above  glorious  victory,  his  lordship  continued 
to  retain  the  same  command  till  the  commencement  of 
1800,  after  which,  now  advanced  in  years,  he  passed  some 
time  in  retirement,  and  died  at  his  seat -in  Scotland,  Au- 
gust 4,  1804.  He  married  on  June  6,  1777,  Henrietta, 
daughter  of  the  late  right  hon.  Robert  Dundas,  lord  pre- 
sident of  the  court  of  session  in  Scotland  (elder  brother  of 
lord  viscount  Melville),  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family  : 
and  was  succeeded  in  his  titles  and  estate  by  Robert,  his 
second  son. 

In  person,  lord  Duncan  was  of  a  manly,  athletic  form, 
six  feet  four  inches  high,  erect  and  graceful,  with  a  coun- 
tenance that  indicated  great  intelligence  and  benevolence. 
It  would,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  find  in  modern  history 
another  man,  in  whom,  with  so  much  meekness,  modesty, 
and  unaffected  dignity  of  mind,  were  united  so  much  ge- 
nuine spirit,  so  much  of  the  skill  and  fire  of  professional 
genius;  such  vigorous,  active  wisdom  ;  such  alacrity  and 
ability  for  great  achievements,  with  such  entire  indifference 
for  their  success,  except  so  far  as  it  might  contribute  to 
the  good  of  his  country.  His  private  character  was  that  of 


442  DUNCAN. 

a  most  affectionate  relative,  and  a  steady  friend  ;  and, 
what  crowns  the  whole  with  a  lustre  superior  to  all  other 
qualities  or  distinctions,  a  man  of  great,  and  unaffected 
piety.  The  latter  virtue  may  excite,  in  some  persons,  a 
smile  of  contempt :  but  the  liberal-minded  will  be  pleased 
to  read  that  lord  Duncan  felt  it  an  honour  to  be  a  Christian. 
He  encouraged  religion  by  his  own  practice  ;  and  the  pub- 
lic observance  of  it  has  always  been  kept  up  wherever  he 
held  the  command.  When  the  victory  was  decided,  which 
has  immortalized  his  name,  his  lordship  ordered  the  crew 
of  his  ship  to  be  called  together;  and,  at  their  head,  upon 
his  bended  knees,  in  the  presence  of  the  Dutch  admiral 
(who  was  greatly  affected  with  the  scene),  he  solemnly  and 
pathetically  offered  up  praise  to  the  God  of  battles.  Let 
it  be  added  here,  that  his  demeanour,  when  all  eyes  were 
upon  him,  in  the  cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  on  the  day  of  ge- 
neral thanksgiving,  in  December  following,  was  so  humble, 
modest,  and  devout,  as  greatly  to  increase  that  admiration 
which  his  services  had  gained  him.  In  short,  lord  Duncan 
was  one  more  instance  of  the  truth  of  the  assertion,  that 
piety  and  courage  ought  to  be  .inseparably  allied  ;  and  that 
the  latter,  without  the  former,  loses  its  principal  virtue. ' 

DUNCAN   (DANIEL),  an    eminent  physician,   born    at 
Montauban   in    Lano-uedoc   in    1649,   was  the  son  of  Dr. 

O  * 

Peter  Duncan,  professor  of  physic  in  that  city,  and  grand- 
son to  William  Duncan,  an  English  gentleman,  of  Scot- 
tish original,  who  removed  from  London  to  the  south  of 
France  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  Having 
lost  both  his  parents  while  yet  in  his  cradle,  lie  was  in- 
debted, for  the  care  of  his  infancy  and  education,  to  the 
guardianship  of  his  mother's  brother,  Mr.  Daniel  Paul,  a 
leading  counsellor  of  the  parliament  of  Toulouse,  though 
a  firm  and  professed  protestant.  Mr.  Duncan  received  the 
first  elements  of  grammar,  polite  literature,  and  philoso- 
phy, at  Puy  Laurens,  whither  the  magistracy  of  Montau- 
ban had  transferred  their  university  for  a  time,  to  put  an 
end  to  some  disputes  between  the  students  and  the  citizens. 
The  masters  newly  established  there,  finding  their  credit 
much  raised  by  his  uncommon  proficiency,  redoubled  their 
attention  to  him  ;  so  that  he  went  from  that  academy  with 
a  distinguished  character  to  Montpellier,  when  removed 

1  Collins's   Peerage,  by   sir    E.   Brydges. — Naval  Chronicle,  vol.  IV. — Char- 
Hock's  Biog.  Navalis. — Gent.  Mag.  1804. 


DUNCAN.  448 

thither  by  his  guardian,  with  a  view  to  qualify  him  for  a 
profession  which  had  been  for  three  generations  hereditary 
in  bis  family  *.  His  ingenuity  and  application  recom- 
mended him  to  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  his  principal 
instructor  there,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Charles  Barbeyrac 
(uncle  to  John  Barbeyrac  the  famous  civilian),  whose  me- 
dical lei-ruivs  and  practice  were  in  high  reputation.  Hav- 
ing taken  his  favourite  pupil  into  his  own  house,  the  pro- 
fes^or  impressed  and  turned  to  use  his  public  and  private 
instruction  by  an  efficacious  method,  admitting  him,  at 
evi-ry  visit  he  paid  to  his  patients,  to  consult  and  reason 
with  him,  upon  ocular  inspection,  concerning  the  effect  of 
his  prescriptions.  When  he  had  studied  eight  years  under 
the  friendly  care  of  so  excellent  a  master,  and  had  just 
attained  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
degree  of  M.  D.  in  that  university.  From  Montpellier  he 
went  to  Paris,  where  he  resided  nearly  seven  years.  Here 
he  published  his  first  work,  upon  the  principle  of  motion 
in  the  constituent  parts  of  animal  bodies,  entitled  :  "  Ex- 
plication nouvelle  &  mechanique  des  actions  an i males, 
Paris,  1678."  It  was  in  the  year  following  that  he  went 
for  the  first  time  to  London,  to  dispose  of  some  houses 
there,  winch  had  descended  to  him  from  his  ancestors. 
He  had,  besides,  some  other  motives  to  the  journey;  and 
among  the  rest,  to  get  information  relative  to  the  effects  of 
the  plague  in  London  in  1665.  Having  dispatched  his 
other  business,  he  printed  in  London  a  Latin  edition  of 
his  "  Theory  of  the  principle  of  motion  in  animal  bodies.'* 
His  stay  in  London,  at  this  time,  was  little  more  than 
two  years  ;  and  he  was  much  disposed  to  settle  there  en- 
tirely. But  in  1681  he  was  recalled  to  Paris  to  attend  a 
consultation  on  the  health  of  his  patron  Colbert,  which  was 
then  beginning  to  decline.  Soon  after  his  return  he  pro- 
duced the  fii^t  part  of  a  new  work,  entitled,  "  La  chymie 
naturelle,  ou  explication  chymique  &  mechanique  de  la 
Tiourriture  de  Tanimal,"  which  was  much  read,  but  rather 
ra:.-;ud  than  satisfied  the  curiosity  of  the  learned  ;  to  answer 
which  he  added  afterwards  two  other  parts,  which  were 
received  with  a  general  applause.  A  second  edition  of  the 
whole  was  published  at  Paris  in  1687.  In  that  year  like- 
wise came  out  his  v'  Histoire  de  Panimal,  ou  la  connoissance 

*  A  long  account  of  this  family  is  given  in  a  note  on  Mr.  Duncan's  article 

in  the  Biographia  Ujv.auuica. 


DUNCAN. 

e!n  corps  anime  par  la  mecbanique  &  par  la  chymie."  He 
left  Paris  in  1683,  upon  the  much-lamented  death  of  Col- 
bert, the  kind  effect  of  whose  esteem  he  gratefully  ac- 
knowledged, though  in  a  much  smaller  degree  than  he 
might  have  enjoyed,  if  he  had  been  less  bold  in  avowing 
his  zeal  for  protestantism,  and  his  abhorrence  of  popery. 
He  had  some  property  in  land  adjoining  to  the  city  of 
Montauban,  with  a  handsome  house  upon  it,  pleasantly 
situated  near  the  skirts  of  the  town.  It  was  with  the  pur- 
pose of  selling  these,  and  settling  finally  in  England,  that 
he  went  thither  from  Paris.  But  the  honourable  and 
friendly  reception  he  met  with  there  determined  his  stay 
some  years  in  his  native  city.  In  1690,  the  persecution 
which  began  to  rage  with  great  fury  against  protestants 
made  him  suddenly  relinquish  all  thoughts  of  a  longer 
abode  in  France.  Having  disposed  of  his  house  and  land 
for  less  than  half  their  value,  he  retired  first  to  Geneva, 
intending  to  return  to  England  through  Germany  ;  an  in- 
tention generally  kept  in  petto,  but  for  many  years  unex- 
pectedly thwarted  by  a  variety  of  events.  Great  numbers 
of  his  persuasion,  encouraged  by  his  liberality  in  defraying 
their  expences  on  the  road  to  Geneva,  had  followed  him 
thither.  Unwilling  to  abandon  them  in  distress,  he  spent 
several  months  in  that  city  and  Berne,  whither  great  num- 
bers had  likewise  taken  refuge,  in  doing  them  all  the  ser- 
vice in  his  power.  The  harsh  and  gloomy  aspect  which 
reformation  at  that  time  wore  in  Geneva,  ill  agreeing  with 
a  temper  naturally  mild  and  cheerful,  and  the  sullen  treat- 
ment he  met  with  from  those  of  his  profession,  whose  ig- 
norance and  selfishness  his  conduct  and  method  of  practice 
tended  to  bring  into  disrepute,  occasioned  his  stay  there 
to  be  very  short.  He  listened  therefore  with  pleasure  to 
the  persuasion  of  a  chief  magistrate  of  Berne,  who  invited 
him  to  a  residence  more  suited  to  his  mind.  He  passed 
about  8  or  9  years  at  Berne,  where  to  his  constant  practice 
of  physic  was  added  the  charge  of  a  professorship  of  anato- 
my and  chemistry.  In  1699,  Philip  landgave  of  Hesse 
sent  for  him  to  Cassel.  The  princess,  who  lay  danger- 
ously ill,  was  restored  to  life,  but  recovered  strength  very 
slowly.  Dr.  Duncan  was  entertained  for  three  years  with 
great  respect,  in  the  palace  of  the  landgrave,  as  his  do- 
mestic physician.  During  his  stay  at  that  court,  he  wrote 
his  treatise  upon  the  abuse  of  hot  liquors.  The  use  of  tea, 
which  had  not  long  been  introduced  into  Germany,  and  in 


DUNCAN.  445 

the  houses  of  only  the  most  opulent,  was  already  at  the 
landgrave's  become  improper  and  immoderate,  as  well  as 
that  of  coffee  and  chocolate.  The  princess  of  Hesse,  with 
a  weak  habit  of  body  inclining  to  a  consumption,  had  been 
accustomed  to  drink  these  liquors  to  excess,  and  extremely 
hot.  He  thought  fit,  therefore,  to  write  something  against 
the  abuse  of  them,  especially  the  most  common  one  last 
mentioned.  Their  prudent  use,  to  persons  chiefly  of  a 
phlegmatic  constitution,  he  allowed.  He  even  recom- 
mended them,  in  that  case,  by  his  own  example,  to  be 
taken  moderately  warm  early  in  the  morning,  and  soon 
after  dinner ;  but  never  late  in  the  even  ins;,  their  natural 

*  O  * 

tendency  not  agreeing  with  the  posture  of  a  body  at  rest. 
He  wrote  this  treatise  in  a  popular  style,  as  intended  for 
the  benefit  of  all  ranks  of  people  ;  the  abuse  he  condemned 
growing  daily  more  and  more  epidemical.  Though  he 
deemed  it  too  superficial  for  publication,  he  permitted  it 
to  be  much  circulated  in  manuscript.  It  was  not  till  five 
years  after  that  he  was  persuaded  by  his  friend  Dr.  Boer- 
haave  to  print  it,  first  in  French,  under  the  title  of  "  Avis 
salutaire  a  tout  le  monde,  contre  Tabus  cles  liqueurs  chaudes, 
&  particulierement  du  caffe,  du  chocolat,  &  du  the." 
Rotterdam,  J  705.  He  printed  it  the  year  following  in 
English. 

The  persecution  of  protestants  in  France  continuing  to 
drive  great  numbers  of  them  from  all  its  provinces  into 
Germany,  he  defrayed  occasionally  the  expences  of  some 
small  bodies  of  these  poor  emigrants,  who  passed  through 
Cassel  in  1702,  in  their  way  to  Brandenburg,  where  en- 
couraging offers  of  a  comfortable  maintenance  were  held 
out  by  Frederic,  the  newly  created  king  of  Prussia,  to  in- 
dustrious manufacturers  of  every  sort.  The  praises  these 
people  spread  of  Dr.  Duncan's  liberality,  when  they  ar- 
rived at  Berlin,  procured  him  a  flattering  invitation  to  that 
court.  Here  he  was  well  received  by  the  reigning  prince ; 
who  appointed  him  distributor  of  his  prudent  munificence 
to  some  thousands  of  these  poor  artificers,  and  superin- 
tendant  of  the  execution  of  a  plan  formed  tor  their  esta- 
blishment. This  office  he  discharged  with  great  credit  and 
internal  satisfaction  ;  but  with  no  other  advantage  to  him- 
self. Though  appointed  professor  of  physic  with  a  decent 
salary,  and  physician  to  the  royal  household,  he  found  hi> 
abode  at  Berlin  likely  to  prove  injurious  to  his  health  and 
fortune.  His  expences  there  were  excessive,  and  increas- 


446  D  U  N  C  A  N. 

ing  without  bounds  by  the  daily  applications  made  to  him 
as  distributor  of  the  royal  bounty,  which  fell  short  of 
their  wants.  Besides,  the  intemperate  mode  of  living  at 
that  court  was  not  according  to  his  taste,  and  this  last  rea- 
son  induced  him.  in  1703,  to  remove  to  the  Ha^ue.  In 

99  O 

this  most  agreeable  residence  he  settled  about  twelve  years, 
a  short  excursion  to  London  excepted  in  1  706,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  investing  ail  his  monied  property  in  the  English 
funds.  He  ke,.:  at  this  time  a  frequent  correspondence 
with  Dr.  Boer.;aave,  at  whose  persuasion  he  published  a 
Latin  edition  of  uis  Natural  Chemistn  ,  with  some  improve- 
ments and  additional  illustrations.  He  commenced  about 
the  same  time  a  correspondence  upon  similar  subjects  with 
Dr.  Richard  Mead,  From  the  time  of  his  leavijig  London 
in  1681.  it  appears  that  Dr.  Duncan  constantly  entertained 
thoughts  of  fixing  there  his  final  abode.  He  however  did 
not  effect  this  purpose  till  about  the  end  of  1714.  He  ex- 
pressed an  intention  to  quit  the  Hague  some  months  sooner; 
but  unhappilv  just  then  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  a 
stroke  of  the  inch  greatly  alarmed  his  friend.-..  "Vc-t, 

when  he  had  overcome  the  first  shock,  he  found  no  other 
inconvenience  from  it  himself  till  his  death  twenty-one 
years  after,  except  a  slight  convulsive  motion  of  the  head, 
which  seized  him  commonly  in  speaking,  but  never  inter- 
rupted the  constant  cheerfulness  of  his  address.  To  a  pa- 
tient likely  to  do  well  lie  would  say,  "  It  is  not  for  your 
case  that  I  shake  my  head,  but  my  own.  You  will  soon 
shake  me  off,  1  warrant  you."  He  dedicated  the  last  six- 
teen years  of  his  life  to  the  gratuitous  service  of  those  who 
sought  his  advice.  To  the  rich  who  consulted  him,  from 
whom  he  as  peremptorily  refused  to  take  a  fee,  he  was 
wont  to  say,  with  a  smile,  •'  The  poor  are  my  only  pay- 
masters now;  thev  are  the  best  I  ever  had  ;  their  payments 
are  placed  in  a  government-fund  that  can  never  fail  ;  my 
security  is  the  only  King  who  can  do  no  wrong." 
alluded  to  the  loss  he  had  sustained,  in  1721,  of  a  third 
part  of  his  property  by  the  South  Sea  scheme,  which,  how- 
ever, produced  not  the  least  alteration  in  his  pu-pose,  nor 
any  retrenchment  of  his  general  beneficence  to  the  poor. 
He  left  behind  him  a  great  number  of  manuscripts,  chiefly 
on  physical  subjects.  The  writers  of  the  "  Bibliotheque 
Britannique"  for  June  1735,  whence  the  substance  of  this 
account  is  taken,  close  the  article  relating  to  him  with  this 
short  sketch  of  his  character  :  "  His  conversation  was  ea 


DUNCAN.  447 

cheerful,  and  interesting,  pure  from  all  taint  of  party- 
scandal  or  idle  raillery.  This  made  his  company  desired 
by  all  who  had  a  capacity  to  know  its  value  ;  and  he  afforded 
a  striking  instance  that  religion  must  naturally  gain  strength 
from  the  successful  study  of  nature."  He  died  at  London, 
April  30,  1735,  aged  86.  He  left  behind  him  an' only 
son,  the  reverend  doctor  Daniel  Duncan,  author  of  some 
religious  tracts;  among  the  rest,  "  Collects  upon  the  prin- 
cipal Articles  of  the  Christian  Faith,  according  to  the  order 
of  the  Catechism  of  the  Church  of  England."  Printed  lor 
S.  Birt,  1754.  This  was  originally  intended  for  an  appen- 
dix to  a  larger  work,  completed  for  the  press,  but  never 
published,  entitled,  "  The  Family  Catechism,  being  a  free 
and  comprehensive  Exposition  of  the  Catechism  of  the 
Church  of  England."  He  corresponded  with  the  writers 
of  the  "  Candid  Disquisitions,"  £.c.  in  which  work  he  was 
from  that  circumstance  supposed  to  have  had  some  share. 
He  died  in  June,  1761,  leaving  behind  him  two  sons,  both 
clergymen,  the  younger  of  whom,  John  Duncan,  D.  D. 
rector  of  South  Warmborough,  Hants,  died  at  Bath  Dec. 
28,  1808.  He  was  born  in  1720,  and  educated  at  St. 
John's  college,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  degrees  of  M.  A. 
in  1746,  B.  D.  1752,  and  D.  D.  by  decree  of  convocation 
in  1757.  Jn  1745  and  1746  he  was  chaplain  to  the  king's 
own  regiment,  and  was  present  at  every  battle  in  Scotland 
in  which  that  regiment  was  engaged.  He  afterwards  ac- 
companied the  regiment  to  Minorca,  and  was  present  at 
the  memorable  siege  of  St.  Philip's,  which  was  followed  by 
the  execution  of  admiral  Byng.  In  1763  he  was  presented 
to  the  college  living  of  South  Warmborough,  which  he 
held  for  forty-five  years.  Besides  many  fugitive  pieces  in 
the  periodical  journals,  Dr.  Duncan  published  an  "Essay 
on  Happiness,"  a  poem,  in  four-  books;  an  "  Address  to 
the  rational  advocates  of  the  Church  of  England;"  the 
"  Religious  View  of  the  present  crisis  ;"  "  The  Evidence 
of  Reason,  in  proof  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,"  col- 
lected from  Mr.  Baxter's  MSS.  with  an  introductory  letter 
by  the  editor,  addressed  to  Dr.  Priestley ;  and  some  other 
tracts  and  occasional  sermons.  He  contributed  to  the 
"  Biographia  Britannica,"  the  life  of  his  grandfather,  and 
an  account  of  the  family  of  Duncans  ;  and  what  the  editor 
of  that  work  said  of  him  in  his  life-time  may  be  justly  re- 
peated now,  "  that  he  sustained  the  honour  of  his  family, 
in  the  respectability  of  his  character,  in  the  liberality 


445  D  U  N  C  A  N*. 

of  his  mind,  and  in  his  ingenious  and  valuable  publica- 
tions." l 

DUNCAN  (MARK),  an  ancestor  of  the  preceding  Dr. 
Daniel  Duncan,  and  also  a  physician,  was  of  Scotch  origin, 
but  born  in  London.  He  appears  to  have  gone  early  in 
life  to  Franct ,  and  during  a  residence  at  Saumur,  acquired 
the  patronage  of  the  celebrated  Du  Plessis  Mornay,  then 
governor  of  that  city,  who  procured  him  the  professorship 
of  philosophy  in  the  university.  This  situation  he  filled 
with  great  reputation,  and  published  several  learned  works, 
among  the  rest,  a  Latin  system  of  Logic,  much  commended 
by  Burgersdicius,  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Jnstitutiones 
Logica?,"  which  he  frankly  confesses  to  have  formed  en- 
tirely upon  that  model.  By  the  interest  of  the  governor, 
his  generous  protector,  to  whom  his  Logic  is  dedicated,  he 
became  afterwards  regent  [principal]  of  the  university  of 
Saumur.  Among  his  works  is  a  book  against  tne  posses- 
sion of  the  Ursuline  nuns  of  Loudun.  This  piece  made  so 
much  noise,  that  Li  ubardemont,  commissary  for  the  exa- 
mination of  tiie  demoniacal  possession  of  these  young  wo- 
men, would  have  made  it  a  serious  affair  for  him,  but  for 
the  interposition  of  the  marshal  de  Breze,  to  whom  he  was 
physician.  At  Saumur  he  married  a  gentlewoman  of  a 
good  family,  and  gained  so  much  reputation  in  his  art, 
that  James  I.  kins?  of  Britain  sent  for  him,  with  an  offer  of 

O  ' 

making  him  his  physician  in  ordinary  ;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose he  sent  him  the  patent  of  it  (as  a  security  of  what  he 
was  promised)  before  lie  crossed  the  sea  ;  but,  as  his  wife 
was  extremely  desirous  not  to  leave  her  native  country, 
her  relations,  and  acquaintance,  he  refused  to  accept  of  an 
employment  that  was  so  honourable  and  advantageous  to 
his  family,  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  at  iSanmur,  where 
he  died  in  1640,  to  the  universal  regret  of  every  one,  whe- 
ther high  or  low,  papist  or  protestant.  He  was  admirably 
well  skilled  in  philosophy,  divinity,  and  mathematics,  be- 
sides physic,  which  he  practised  with  great  honour ;  and 
was  a  man  of  the  greatest  probity,  and  of  a  most  exemplary 
life. 

He  had  a  son,  MARK  DUNCAN,  who  is  mentioned  by 
biographers  under  the  name  of  CERISANTES.  Bayle  gives 
a  long  desultory  account  of  him.  His  life  appears  to  have 
been  strangely  checquered,  through  a  spirit  impatient  of 

1  Eiog.  Brit. 


DUNCAN.  449 

rest,  with  a  variety  of  literary,  civil,  and  military  pursuits. 
Moreri  has  inserted  in  his  dictionary,  from  the  fictitious 
memoirs  said  to  be  written  by  the  duke  of  Guise,  some 
calumnies  against  Cerisantes,  which  are  refuted  in  a  satis- 
factory manner  by  Bayle.  Several  detached  pieces  of  Ce- 
risantes's  poetry  are  to  be  seen  in  printed  miscellaneous 
collections.  Among  these  is  a  remarkable  one,  inscribed, 
"  Carmen  gratulatorinm  in  nuptias  Caroli  It.  Aug.  cum 
Henrietta  Maria  rilia  Henrici  IV.  R.  Fr."  The  visionary 
blessings  that  were  to  arise  from  this  union  to  all  the  world, 
particularly  to  his  native  country,  and  that  of  his  proge- 
nitor, (by  their  becoming  the  joint  arbiters  of  that  per- 
petual peace  in  Europe,  which  it  was  the  project  of  Henry 
to  establish,  and  which  he  has  beautifully  painted  in  the 
most  lively  colouring),  only  shew  that  a  good  poet  may  be 
a  bad  prophet.  He  is  said  to  have  died  in  1648.1 

DUNCAN  (WILLIAM),  professor  of  philosophy  in  the 
marischal  college,  Aberdeen,  and  a  learned  writer,  was 
born  in  that  city  in  the  month  of  July  1717.  His  father, 
William  Duncan,  was  a  respectable  tradesman  in  the  same 
place,  and  his  mother,  Euphemia  Kirkwood,  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  wealthy  farmer  in  East  Lothian,  the  first  district 
in  Scotland  where  agriculture  was  much  improved.  Young 
Duncan  received  his  grammatical  education  partly  in  the 
public  grammar-school  of  Aberdeen,  and  partly  at  Foveran, 
about  fifteen  miles  distant,  where  there  was  a  boarding- 
school,  which  at  that  time  was  greatly  frequented,  on  ac- 
count of  the  reputation  of  Mr.  George  Forbes,  the  master. 
In  November  1733,  Mr.  Duncan  entered  the  marischal 
college  of  Aberdeen,  and  applied  himself  particularly  to 
the  study  of  the  Greek  language,  under  the  celebrated 
professor  Dr.  Thomas  Blackwell.  After  going  through  the 
ordinary  course  of  philosophy  and  mathematics,  which 
continues  for  three  years,  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A. 
This  was  in  April  1737,  and  he  never  took  any  other  de- 
gree. Mr.  Duncan  appears  to  have  been  designed  for  the 
ministry,  and  in  this  view  he  attended  the  theological  lec- 
tures of  the  professors  at  Aberdeen  for  two  winters.  Not, 
however,  finding  in  himself  any  inclination  to  the  clerical 
profession,  he  quitted  his  native  place,  and  removed  to 
London  in  1739,  where  he  became  an  author  by  profes- 
sion. In  this  capacity  various  works  were  published  by 

>  C-eu.  Piet.— Biog.  Brit. 

VOL.  XII.  C  e 


450  DUNCAN. 

him  without  his  name  ;  the  exact  nature  and  number  of 
which  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  ascertain.  It  is  in  general 
understood  that  he  translated  several  books  from  the  French, 
and  that  he  engaged  in  different  undertakings  which  were 
proposed  to  him  by  the  booksellers.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  he  had  a  very  considerable  share  in  the  translation 
of  Horace  which  goes  under  the  name  of  Watson.  With- 
out, however,  anxiously  inquiring  after  every  translation, 
and  every  compilation  in  which  Mr.  Duncan  might  be  con- 
cerned, we  shall  content  ourselves  with  taking  notice  of 
the  three  principal  productions  upon  which  his  literary  re- 
putation is  founded.  The  first,  in  point  of  time,  was  his 
translation  of  several  select  orations  of  Cicero.  It  has  gone 
through  several  impressions,  and  was  much  used  as  a  school- 
book,  the  Latin  being  printed  on  one  side,  and  the  English 
on  the  other.  A  new  edition  in  this  form  appeared  in 
1792.  Sir  Charles  Whitworth,  in  1777,  published  Mr. 
Duncan's  version  in  English  only,  for  the  benefit  of  such 
young  persons  of  both  sexes,  as  have  not  had  the  benefit 
of  a  liberal  education.  The  publication  is  in  2  vols.  8vo. 
In  his  preface,  sir  Charles  speaks  highly,  and  we  believe 
justly,  of  Mr.  Duncan's  merit  as  a  translator,  and  ranks 
him  with  a  Leland,  a  Hampton,  and  a  Melmoth.  Mr. 
Duncan  accompanied  his  translation  with  short  but  judicious 
explanatory  notes. 

In  1748,  Mr.  Robert  Dodsley  published  that  work  so 
well  adapted  to  the  education  of  youth,  entitled  "  The 
Preceptor  ;"  and  that  it  might  be  executed  in  the  best 
manner,  called  in  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  ablest  men 
of  the  age,  among  whom  may  be  reckoned  the  names  of 
David  Fordyce,  Dr.  John  Campbell,  and  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson.  The  part  of  logic  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Duncan, 
and  he  discharged  the  task  with  an  ability  that  excited  ge- 
neral approbation.  He  has  treated  logic  like  one  who  was 
a  thorough  master  of  it.  Disdaining  to  copy  servilely  after 
those  who  had  gone  before  him,  he  struck  out  a  plan  of 
his  own,  and  managed  it  with  so  much  perspicuity  and 
judgment,  gave  so  clear  and  distinct  a  view  of  the  furni- 
ture of  our  minds  for  the  discovery  of  truth,  and  laid  down 
such  excellent  rules  for  the  attainment  of  it,  that  his  work 
\vas  reckoned  one  of  the  best  introductions  to  the  study 
of  philosophy  and  the  mathematics  in  our  own,  or  per- 
haps any  other  language.  Mr.  Duncan's  last  production 
vvAs  a  translation  of  Ciesar's  Coaimentaries3  which  appeared 


DUNCAN.  45  J 

in  the  latter  end  of  1752,  in  one  vol.  folio.     This  work  had 
a  double  title  to  a  favourable  reception  from   the  public, 
being    recommended    both  by   its   external    and    internal 
merit.     It  is  beautifully  printed,  and  richly  adorned  with 
a  variety  of  fine  cuts  ;  and  as  to  the  translation,  it  is  ac- 
knowledged  to   be  the  best  that  has  been   given   in   our 
tongue  of  the  Commentaries  of  Caesar.     Mr.  Duncan  has 
in  a  great  measure  caught  the  spirit  of  the  original  author, 
and  has  preserved  his  turn  of  phrase  and  expression  as  far 
as  the  nature  of  our  language  would    permit.     Previously 
to  our  author's  publication  of  this  work,   he  had  been  ap- 
pointed professor  of  philosophy  in  the  Alarischal  college, 
Aberdeen.     The  royal  presentation,  which  conferred  this 
office  upon  him,  was  signed  by  the  king  at  Hanover,  May 
18,    1752.     Mr.  -Duncan,  hosvever,    remained   in   London 
till  the  summer  of  1753,  and  was  not  admitted  to  his  pro- 
fessorship of  natural  and  experimental  philosophy  till  Aug. 
21,  of  the  same  year.     While  Mr.  Duncan  resided  in  the 
metropolis,  he  was  in  the  habits  of  intimacy  with  several  of 
the  learned  men  who  flourished  at  that  time ;  and  among 
others,  George  Lewis  Scot,  and  Dr.  Armstrong^  were  his 
particular  friends.     Indeed  he  was  held  in  general  esteem 
on  account  of  his  private,  as  well  as  his  literary  character. 
The  sedentary  life  he  had  led  before  he  came  into  the  col- 
lege at  Aberdeen,  had  a  good  deal  affected  his  constitu- 
tion, and  particularly  his  nerves;  in  consequence  of  which 
he  was  subject  to  an  occasional  depression  of  spirits.     By 
this  he  was  unfitted  for  great  exertions,  but  not  for  his  or- 
dinary employment,  or  for  enjoying  the  company  of  his 
friends.     He  died  a  bachelor,  May  1,  1760,  in  the  forty- 
third  year  of  his  age.     Mr.  Duncan   cannot  so  much   be 
said  to  have  possessed   genius,  as  good  sense  and  taste  ; 
and  his  parts  were  rather  solid  than  shining.     His  temper 
was  social,  his  manners  easy  and  agreeable,  and  his  con- 
versation entertaining  and  often  lively.     In  his  instructions 
as  a  professor  he  was  diligent  and  very  accurate.     His  con- 
duct was  irreproachable,    and  he   was   regular  in  his  at- 
tendance   on   the  various    institutions  of  public   worship. 
Soon   after   his   settlement  in   the   Marischal  college,  he 
was  admitted  an  elder  of  the  consistory  or  church  session 
of  Aberdeen,  and  continued  to  officiate  as  such  till  his 
death.1 

1  Biog.  P.rit.  communicated  by  the  late  Dr,  Gerard, 
G  G    2 


432  D  U  N  C  O  M  B  E. 

DUNCOMBE  (WILLIAM),  an  ingenious  poetical  and 
miscellaneous  writer,  youngest  son  of  John  Buncombe, 
esq.  of  Stocks,  in  the  parish  of  Ahibury,  Hertfordshire, 
and  Hannah  his  wife,  was  born  at  his  father's  house  in 
Hatton-garden,  London,  Jan.  9,  1689-90,  and  owed  his 
Christian  name  to  the  revolution  principles  of  his  father 
and  family.  On  the  same  principles,  his  father  in  1693 
put  his  life  into  the  tontine,  or  annuities  increasing  by  sur- 
vivorship, subscribing  100/.  on  it,  for  which  \Ql.  per  an- 
num was  paid  immediately,  and  from  which,  in  the  course 
of  his  long  life,  our  author  received  some  thousands.  He 
was  educated  in  two  private  seminaries,  viz.  at  Cheney,  in 
Bucks,  and  afterwards  at  Pinner,  near  Harrow-on-the- Hill, 
Middlesex,  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Thomas  Goodwin. 
In  December  1706,  Mr.  Buncombe  was  entered  as  a  clerk 
in  the  navy-office,  and  was  advanced  to  a  higher  salary  in 
January  1707-8.  So  early  as  1715,  we  find  a  translation  by 
him  of  the  twenty-ninth  ode  of  the  first  book  of  Horace, 
in  the  collection  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "  The 
Wit's  Horace."  About  this  time,  being  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Jabefc  Hughes,  Mr.  Buncombe  was  introduced  to  his 
brother  John,  author  of  the  "  Siege  of  Damascus,"  and 
also  to  his  sister  (afterwards  Mrs.  Buncombe),  who  was  a 
woman  of  excellent  sense  and  temper.  Our  author's 
translation  of  the  Carmen  Seculare  of  Horace  was  printed 
in  folio  in  1721,  and  was  collected  in  1731,  in  Concanen's 
Miscellany,  entitled  "  The  Flower-piece."  This  was  fol- 
lowed in  1722,  by  a  translation  of  the  tragedy  of  "  Athaliah" 
by  Racine,  which  was  published  by  subscription,  and  has 
gone  through  three  editions.  Having  contracted  an  intimacy 
at  the  Navy-office  with  Mr.  Henry  Needier,  a  gentleman 
endued  with  a  like  taste,  our  author,  by  supplying  him 
with  proper  books,  enabled  him  to  gratify  his  ardent  thirst 
for  knowledge ;  and,  on  his  early  death  in  1718,  hastened 
by  his  intense  application,  discharged  the  debt  of  friend- 
ship by  collecting  and  publishing  his  "  Original  Poems, 
Translations,  Essays,  and  Letters,"  in  1724,  one  vol.  Svo, 
of  which  there  have  been  also  three  editions.  On  Be- 
cember  3,  1725,  Mr.  Buncombe  quitted  his  place  at  the 
Navy-office,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  a  long  and  happy 
life,  among  his  friends  and  his  books,  in  literary7  leisure;- 
Having  a  share  in  the  "  Whitehall  Evening  Post,"  several 
of  his  fugitive  pieces  appeared  occasionally  in  that  paper ; 
in  particular,  a  translation  of  Buchanan's  "  Verses  on 


BUNCOMBE.  453 

Valentine's  Day  ;"  "  Verses  to  Euryalus  (Mr.  John  Carle- 
ton)  on  his  coming  of  age;"  "  The  Choice  of  Hercules," 
fr.,;u  Xenophon,  (for  which  there  was  such  a  demand,  that 
the  paper  v\as  in  a  few  days  ont  of  print);  and  a  "Defence 
of  some  passages  in  Paradise  Lost,"  from  the  hyper-criti- 
cism of  M.  de  Voltaire.  About  the  same  time,  number- 
less errors  in  a  new  edition  of  Chillingworth  were  pointed 
out  by  him,  arid  translations  of  the  "  Letters  between 
Archbishop  Fenelon  and  M.  de  la  Motte,"  since  repub- 
lished  in  the  appendix  to  archbishop  Herring's  Letters, 
and  of  the  "  Adventures  of  Melesickton,"  and  other  fables 
from  Fenelon,  were  published  in  the  London  Journal.  In 
the  lottery  of  1725,  a  ticket  which  Mr.  Duncombe  had  iu 
partnership  with  miss  Elizabeth  Hughes,  sister  of  John 
Hughes,  esq.  author  of  "  The  Siege  of  Damascus,"  was 
drawn  a  pnze  of  1000/.  a  circumstance  which  probably 
hastened  his  m  image  with  that  amiable  lady,  which  took 
place  Sept  1,  1726,  on  which  he  removed  to  her  mother's 
house  in  Red-lion-street,  Holborn. 

In  1728,  a  letter  by  Mr.  Duncombe,  signed  Philopro- 
pos,  was  printed  in  the  London  Journal  of  March  30,  con- 
taining some  animadversions  on  the  "  Beggar's  Opera," 
then  exhibiting  with  great  applause  at  Lincoln's-i-in- 
theatre,  shewing  its  pernicious  consequences  to  the  prac- 
tice of  morality  and  Christian  virtue.  And  the  same  po- 
pular entertainment  having  been  soon  after  most  seasonably 
condemned  in  a  sermon  preached  at  Lincoln's-inn  chapel 
by  Dr.  Herring  (afterwards  archbishop  of  Canterbury),  of 
whom  Mr.  Duncombe  was  a  constant  auditor,  in  a  subse- 
quent letter  on  the  same  subject  in  the  London  Journal  of 
April  20,  subscribed  Benevolus,  he  paid  a  just  compli- 
ment to  the  "  clear  reasoning,  good  sense,  and  manly 
rhetoric,  the  judicious  criticism,  as  well  as  the  Christian 
oratory,"  there  displayed.  This  introduced  him  to  the 
acquaintance  and  friendship  of  that  excellent  divine,  which 
continued  without  interruption  till  his  grace's  death,  in 
March  1757  ;  this  favour  being  gratefully  acknowledged 
by  him  "  as  one  of  the  most  generous  and  disinterested 
offers  of  friendship  which  he  ever  received  from  any  one 
since  he  was  acquainted  with  the  world."  In  August  of 
the  same  year,  our  author  published  a  pamphlet  (without  a 
name)  entitled  "  Remarks  on  M.Tindal's  Translation  of  M. 
de  Rapin  Thoyras's  History  of  England,  in  a  letter  to  S.  T. 


454  D  U  N  C  O  M  B  II. 

[Sigismund  Trafford,]  esq."  criticising  Tindal's  style,  which 
is  certainly  none  of  the  best. 

In  the  summer  of  1732,  Mr.  Buncombe's  tragedy  of 
"  Lucius  Junius  Brutus"  was  read  and  approved  by"  the 
author's  friend,  Mr.  Mills  senior,  and  by  him  introduced 
to  the  theatrical  triumvirate,  Booth,  Gibber,  and  Wilks, 
who  also  approved  it,  and  promised  it  should  be  performed. 
Booth  regretted  he  could  not  act  in  it ;  and  Wilks  under- 
took the  part  of  Titus ;  unfortunately  he  died  in  Septem- 
ber following ;  and  the  revolt  of  the  players,  with  the  con- 
fusion that  ensued,  prevented  its  being  brought  on  the 
stage  till  two  years  after,  when  Mr.  Duncombe,  unad- 
visedly, consented  to  Mr.  Fleetwood's  proposal  of  bringing 
it  on  at  Drury-lane  in  November,  when  the  town  was 
empty,  the  parliament  not  sitting,  and  Farinelli,  the  sinp-er, 
highly  popular  at  the  Hay-market.  The  consequence  was 
natural  and  obvious.  "  The  quavering  Italian  eunuch  (to 
use  our  author's  own  words)  proved  too  powerful  for  the 
rigid  Roman  consul."  Yet  it  was  acted  six  nights  with 
applause,  and  repeated  in  February  following,  and  at  the 
same  time  was  printed  in  8vo,  with  a  dedication  to  lord 
chief  justice  Hardwicke.  A  second  edition,  in  12mo,  with 
a  translation  of  M.  de  Voltaire's  "  Essay  on  Tragedy"  pre- 
fixed, was  published  in  1747.  In  April  1735,  Mr.  Dun- 
combe  published,  by  subscription,  in  two  volumes  12rno, 
the  "  Poems,"  &c.  of  his  deceased  brother-in-law,  John 
Hughes,  esq.  which  were  received  by  his  friends  and  the 
public  with  the  esteem  due  to  Hughes's  merit.  In  January, 
1735-6,  our  author's  domestic  happiness  received  a  severe 
shock  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  which  happened  at  Spring 
Grove,  in  Middlesex,  the  seat  of  his  first  cousin,  Mrs. 
Ofley.  In  1737  he  collected  and  published,  in  one  volume 
8vo,  the  "  Miscellanies  in  verse  and  prose"  of  Mr.  Jabez 
Hughes,  for  the  benefit  of  his  widow,  but  the  dedication 
(in  her  name)  to  the  duchess  of  Bedford,  was  drawn  up  by 
the  rev.  Mr.  Copping,  dean  of  Clogher.  In  1743,  on  the 
death  of  his  learned  friend,  Mr.  Samuel  Say,  a  dissenting 
minister  in  Westminster,  Mr.  Duncombe  undertook,  for 
the  benefit  of  his  widow  and  daughter,  to  revise  and  pre- 
pare for  the  press  some  of  his  poems,  and  two  prose  essays, 
which  were  accordingly  published  in  one  volume  4to,  in 
1745.  In  1744,  the  "  Siege  of  Damascus,"  and  some 
other  moral  plays,  having  been  acted  by  several  persons  of 
distinction  for  their  amusement,  Mr.  Duncombe  was  in- 


DUNCOMBE.  455 

duced  to  publish  "  An  Oration  on  the  usefulness  of  Dra- 
matic Interludes  in  the  education  of  youth,"  translated 
from  the  Latin  of  M.  Werenfels,  by  whom  it  was  spoken 
before  the  masters  and  scholars  of  the  university  of  Basil. 
On  the  breaking-out  of  the  rebellion  in  1745,  our  author 
endeavoured  to  second  his  honoured  friend,  the  archbishop 
of  York,  by  reprinting  "  A  Sermon"  (now  known  to  have 
been  written  by  Dr.  Arbuthnot),  supposed  to  be  "preached 
to  the  people  at  the  Mercat- cross  of  Edinburgh,  on  the 
subject  of  the  union  in  1706,"  and  to  the  sermon  prefixed 
a  preface,  without  his  name,  setting  forth  the  advantages 
which  have  accrued  to  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  by  its 
union  with  England.  About  the  same  time  he  also  printed, 
with  a  preface,  a  tract,  entitled,  "  The  complicated  Guilt 
of  the  Rebellion,"  which  had  been  written  by  Mr.  Hughes 
in  1716,  but  was  then  suppressed,  as  the  insurrection  it 
related  to  was  soon  after  quelled  :  this  tract  was  judged  by 
Mr.  Duncombe  to  be  equally  applicable  to  the  transactions 
of  I74o.  In  the  summer  of  1749,  being  with  his  relation, 
Mr.  Brooke,  at  York,  Mr.  Duncombe  was  accidentally  in- 
strumental to  the  detection  of  Archibald  Bower,  by  trans- 
mitting to  archbishop  Herring  an  account  of  that  adven- 
turer's escape  from  the  inquisition,  taken  by  memory  from 
his  own  mouth,  which  being  published  the  year  following 
by  Mr.  Barron,  a  dissenting  minister,  was  disavowed  by 
Bovver;  though,  when  called  upon,  the  mistakes  which  he 
was  able  to  specify,  were  found  to  be  few  and  trifling. 
This  was  the  first  impeachment  of  his  integrity,  and  ex- 
posed him  to  the  attacks  of  Dr.  Douglas,  who  had  before 
detected  Lauder.  To  the  periodical  publication  called 
"  The  World,"  Mr.  Duncombe  contributed  one  paper, 
No.  84,  "  Prosperity  and  Adversity,  an  allegory."  la 

1753,  he  commenced  an  acquaintance,  which  soon  ripened 
into  a  friendship,  with  John  earl  of  Orrery  (soon  after  earl 
of  Corke)  :  this  connexion  was  productive  of  much  plea- 
sure  and   emolument  to  them  both,  and  in  some  degree 
also  to  the  public,   his  lordship's   "  Letters  to  Mr.  Dun- 
combe from  Italy"    having  since  appeared  in   print.     In 

1754,  Mr.  Duncombe  drew  up   "  Remarks  on  l6rd  Boling- 
broke's  Notion  of  a  God,"  with  some  occasional  notes ;  to 
which   he  annexed  a  translation,  from  Cicero,   "  De  Na- 
tura   Deorum,"  of  the   arguments  of  Q   Lucilius  Balbus, 
the  stoic,  in  proof  of  the  being,  and  of  tlie  wisdom,  power, 
and  goodness,  of  God.     These  were  read  and  approved  by 


456  BUNCOMBE, 

the  archbishop,  and  others  of  the  author's  friends,  but  were 
not  published  till  1763,  when  he  allowed  the  late  Dr.  Dodd 
to  insert  them  in  the  "  Christian's  Magazine."  They 
have  since  been  collected  in  the  Appendix  to  archbishop 
Herring's  letters.  Horace  having  always  been  Mr.  Dun- 
combe's  favourite  author,  he  had  amused  himself  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  at  different  times,  with  translating  seve- 
ral of  his  odes,  but  without  any  intention  of  publishing 
them,  or  of  giving  a  version  of  the  whole  to  the  world,  till 
his  son  offered  his  assistance  for  completing  the  work ; 
and  undertook  some  of  the  odes  and  satires,  all  the  epodes, 
and  the  first  book  of  epistles,  and  added  several  imitations 
from  Sanadon,  Dacier,  &c.  Mr.  Duncombe  compiled  notes 
to  the  whole,  and  published  one  volume  8vo,  in  1757, 
and  the  second  in  1759.  Another  edition,  in  four  volumes, 
12mo,  with  several  additional  imitations,  appeared  in  1764. 
On  the  death  of  his  excellent  friend,  archbishop  Herring, 
our  author,  as  a  token  of  his  gratitude  and  affection,  col- 
lected, in  one  volume  8vo,  the  "  Seven  Sermons  on  pub- 
lic occasions,"  which  his  grace  had  separately  printed  in 
his  life-time,  and  prefixed  to  them  some  memoirs  of  his 
life.  This  was  his  last  publication.  With  a  constitution 
naturally  weak  and  tender,  by  constant  regularity,  and  an 
habitual  sweetness  and  evenness  of  temper,  his  life  was 
prolonged  to  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-nine;  when, 
without  any  previous  painful  illness,  he  died  February  13, 
1769,  esteemed,  beloved,  and  regretted,  by  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  interred  near  the  remains  of  his  wife,  in, 
the  burying-place  of  his  family,  in  Aldbury  church,  Hert- 
fordshire, and  left  one  son,  the  subject  of  the  next  ar- 
ticle. l 

DUNCOMBE  (JOHN),  was  born  1730,  and  when  a  child, 
was  of  an  amiable  disposition,  had  an  uncommon  capacity 
for  learning,  and  discovered,  very  early,  a  genius  for  poe- 
try. After  some  years  passed  at  a  school  at  Romford,  in 
Essex,  under  the  care  of  his  relation,  the  rev.  Philip 
Fletcher,  afterwards  dean  of  Kildare,  and  younger  brother 
to  the  bishop  of  that  see,  he  was  removed  to  a  more  emi- 
nent one  at  Felsted,  in  the  same  county.  At  this  school 
he  was  stimulated  by  emulation  to  an  exertion  of  his  ta- 
lents; and,  by  a  close  application,  he  became  the  first 
scholar,  as  well  as  captain  of  the  school,  and  gained  the 

1  Bk>g.  Brit. — Nichols's  Poems  and  Bowyer. 


BUNCOMBE.  457 

4 

highest  reputation  ;  and  by  the  sweetness  of  his  temper 
and  manners,  and  by  a  disposition  to  friendship,  he  ac- 
quired and  preserved  the  love  of  all  his  companions,  and 
the  esteem  of  his  master  and  family.  He  has,  on  some 
particular  occasions,  been  heard  modestly  to  declare,  that 
he  was  never  punished,  during  hib  whole  residence  at 
either  school,  for  negligence  in  his  lessons  or  exercise,  or 
for  any  other  misdemeanor.  He  was  very  early  qualified 
for  the  university,  and  constantly  improved  himself,  when 
at  horne^  by  his  private  studies,  and  the  assistance  or  his 
father,  happy  in  the  companionship  of  such  a  son,  who 
was  always  dutiful  and  affectionate  to  him ;  and  the  first 
literary  characters  of  that  time  associated  with  a  father  and 
son,  whose  polished  taste  and  amiable  manners  rendered 
them  universally  acceptable.  He  was  entered,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  at  Bene't-college,  Cambridge,  where  Mr.  Castle, 
afterwards  dean  of  Hereford,  was  then  master :  and  he 
was  recommended  to  that  college  by  archbishop  Herring, 
whom  we  have  mentioned  as  his  father's  particular  friend. 
The  archbishop  baptised  his  son,  and  promised  to  patro- 
nize him,  if  educated  for  the  church,  and  therefore  sent 
him  to  the  college  where  he  had  completed  his  own  edu- 
cation.— At  the  university  he  continued  to  rise  in  reputa- 
tion as  a  scholar  and  a  poet,  and  was  always  irreproachable 
in  his  moral  character :  he  had  the  happiness  of  forming 
some  connections  there  with  men  of  genius  an  '<  virtue, 
which  lasted  through  life;  but  the  first  and  strongest 
attachment,  in  which  he  most  delighted,  end  which  re- 
flected honour  on  his  own  merit,  was  the  uninterrupted 
friendship,  and  constant  correspondence,  which  com.uued 
to  the  last,  with  Mr.  Greene,  a  very  respectable  clergy- 
man of  the  diocese  of  Norwich,  a  man  whose  character  for 
learning  and  abilities,  goodness  and  virtue,  justly  gained 
him  the  esteem  and  love  of  all  who  had  the  happiness  of  his 
acquaintance,  whose  testimony  is  real  praise,  who  acknow- 
ledged the  worth  of  his  valuable  friend,  "  and  loved  his 
amiable  and  benevolent  spirit." 

He  was,  in  1750,  with  full  reputation,  chosen  fellow  of 
Bene't-college;  was,  in  1753,  ordained  at  Kew  chapel,  by 
Dr.  Thomas,  bishop  of  Peterborough,  and  appointed,  by 
the  recommendation  of  archbishop  Herring,  to  the  curacy 
of  Sundridge  in  Kent ;  after  which  he  became  assistant 
preacher  at  St.  Anne's,  Soho,  where  his  father  resided, 
and  Dr.  Squire,  afterwards  bishop  of  St.  David's,  was  rector, 


458  D  U  N  C  O  M  B  E. 

with  whom  he  lived  in  particular  intimacy,  and  who  gave 
him  a  chaplainship,  and  intended  to  patronize  him  ;  but 
in  that  instance,  and  several  others,  he  experienced  the 
loss  of  friends  and  patrons  before  they  had  been  able  to 
gratify  their  own  intention,  or  bestow  on  him  any  thing 
considerable. — His  elegant  discourses  acquired  him,  as  a 
preacher,  great  reputation  ;  his  language  was  always  cor- 
rect, his  expression  forcible,  and  his  doctrine  so  patheti- 
cally delivered,  as  to  impress  his  hearers  with  reverence 
and  awaken  their  attention.  His  voice  was  harmonious ; 
and  rather  by  the  distinct  articulation,  than  from  strength, 
he  was  better  heard,  in  many  large  churches,  and  particu- 
larly in  the  choir  of  Canterbury  cathedral,  than  some  louder 
tones,  having  cultivated  the  art  of  speaking  in  the  pulpit; 
and  his  sermons  always  recommended  that  moderation, 
truly  Christian  temper,  and  universal  charity  and  philan- 
thropy, which  formed  the  distinguished  mark  of  his  cha- 
racter in  every  part  of  life;  and  he  was  totally  free  from 
all  affectation,  as  well  in  the  pulpit  as  in  common  conver- 
sation. He  was  a  popular  and  admired  preacher;  but  he 
had  no  vanity  on  that  account,  and  was  equally  satisfied  to 
fulfil  his  duty  in  a  country  parish,  and  an  obscure  village, 
as  in  a  crowded  cathedral,  or  populous  church  in  the  me- 
tropolis. But  his  merit  was  not  much  regarded  by  the 
attention  of  the  great.  He  was,  however,  esteemed,  ho- 
noured, and  beloved,  in  the  very  respectable  neighbour- 
hood where  he  constantly  resided  ;  and  the  dignities  and 
affluence  he  might  reasonably  have  expected  from  his 
family  connections,  and  early  patronage,  could  only  have 
displayed,  in  a  wider  sphere,  that  benevolence,  and  those 
viriues,  which  are  equally  beneficial  to  the  possessor,  in 
whatever  station  he  may  be  placed,  when  exercised  to  the 
utmost  of  his  ability. 

After  the  death  of  bishop  Squire,  he  was  nominated 
chaplain  to  lord  Corke,  with  whom  he  and  his  father  had 
the  honour  of  a  particular  friendship,  as  appears  by  that 
nobleman's  "  Letters  from  Italy."  He  was  presented,  in 
1757,  by  archbishop  Herring,  to  the  united  livings  of  St. 
Andrew  and  St.  Mary  Bredman,  in  Canterbury.  This  be- 
nefice was  bestowed  in  the  most  friendly  manner  by  his 
patron,  who  called  it  only  something  to  begin  with  :  but  the 
archbishop  lived  not  above  two  months  afterwards ;  and 
with  his  life  the  prospect  of  future  advancement  seemed  to 
disappear.  However,  no  complaint  against  the  slow  pre- 


BUNCOMBE.  459 

ferment  from  his  respected  friend  and  patron,  no  murmur 
against  the  daily  dispositions  of  benefices,  to  which  he 
must  be  conscious  his  merit  often  gave  him  equal  claim, 
ever  was  suffered  to  escape  in  conversation. 

This  living  enabled  him  to  fulfil  a  long  engagement,  or 
rather  to  obey  the  impulse  of  a  long  attachment,  to  miss 
Highmore,  daughter  of  Mr.  Highmore,  who  was  known  to 
the  world,  not  only  by  his  pencil,  but  by  his  other  exten- 
sive knowledge,  and  literary  pursuits.  He  was  married  at 
St.  Anne's  church,  20th  April  1763,  by  Dr.  Squire,  bishop 
of  St.  David's.  A  similarity  of  taste  and  love  of  literature 
had  early  endeared  their  companionship ;  and  a  mutual 
affection  was  the  natural  consequence,  which  ensured  to 
them  twenty  years  happiness,  rather  increased  than  dimi- 
nished by  the  hand  of  time  !  He  settled  at  Canterbury  ; 
and,  in  1766,  archbishop  Seeker  appointed  him  one  of  the 
six  preachers  in  that  cathedral.  In  1773,  archbishop  Corn- 
wall is  gave  him  the  living  of  Herne,  about  six  miles  from 
Canterbury,  which  afforded  him  a  pleasant  recess  in  the 
summer  months.  His  grace  also  granted  him  a  chaplain- 
ship  ;  and  he  had,  previous  to  the  last  living,  been  en- 
trusted with  the  mastership  of  Harbledown  and  St.  John's 
hospitals,  places  of  trust  only,  not  emolument :  so  that  he 
had,  in  fact,  three  favours,  though  not  any  of  them  con- 
siderable, in  succession,  from  three  archbishops. 

He  examin.ed  into  the  state  of  the  hospitals,  and  endea- 
voured to  do  his  duty  in  the  office  he  had  undertaken,  with 
an  attention  and  assiduity  that  accompanied  his  indefatiga- 
ble desire  of  being  serviceable  to  all,  and  particularly  to 
the  lowest  of  his  fellow-creatures,  wherever  he  had  oppor- 
tunity ;  which  was  his  principal  inducement  for  becoming 
an  acting  magistrate,  the  duty  of  which  office  he  performed 
several  years,  with  great  application  to  observe  the  laws 
of  his  country,  to  do  justice,  preserve  equity,  and  always 
remember  mercy  ;  for  no  one  in  that  department  was  more 
open  to  the  poor  and  friendless,  having  the  temper  and 
inclination  to  propose  and  to  act,  for  the  service  and  re- 
lief of  the  distressed  ;  with  steadiness  to  persevere  with 
judgment,  where  truth  and  right  preponderated. 

He  was  suddenly  taken  ill  in  the  night,  June  2!,  1785. 
A  suffocation  was  rapidly  coming  on  ;  but  a  surgeon  being 
called,  he  was  almost  instantly  relieved  by  bleeding  —  a 
good  sleep  ensued,  but  he  waked  in  the  morning  almost 
speechless;  a  paralytic  stroke  on  the  organs  of  articulation 


460  D  U  N  C  O  M  B  E. 

only,  seemed  to  have  taken  place  ;  medical  assistance  was 
applied  ;  he  partly  recovered  articulation  ;  but  great  de- 
bility was  perceivable,  and  he  could  no  longer  write  as 
usual  :  however,  by  slow  degrees  he  regained  strength, 
beyond  the  expectation  of  iiis  distressed  friends  ;  and  ap- 
peared after  the  summer  passed  at  Herne,  to  be  quite  restored 
to  health  and  spirits,  and  pursued  every  avocation  as  before 
the  stroke,  and  with  the  same  power  of  mind ;  but  those 
who  were  most  constantly  with  him,  and  watched  with  the 
tender  eye  of  affection,  never  lost  the  alarm,  never  rested 
without  apprehension,  and  perceived,  by  some  suaden 
starts,  and  nervous  complaints,  that  all  was  not  sound 
within.  In  January  following  he  coughed  much,  two  or 
three  days,  but  without  any  dangerous  symptom,  till,  on  the 
night  of  the  18th,  a  suffocation  as  before  came  on;  as- 
sistance was  immediately  procured,  but  not  with  the  for- 
mer success;  the  disorder  increased,  and  loss  of  life  ensued. 
His  gentle  spirit,  as  he  had  lived,  departed,  easy  to  him- 
self in  his  exit ;  distressful  alone  to  all  that  knew  him,  to 
those  most  who  knew  him  best.  His  family,  his  friends, 
the  servants,  and  the  poor,  all  by  their  affliction  spoke  his 
real  worth.  He  left  one  daughter.  His  temper  never 
changed  by  any  deprivation  of  the  world's  enjoyments,  nor 
by  any  bodily  suffering  ;  no  peevishness,  no  complaints 
escaped  ;  though  it  is  observed  that  a  great  alteration  often 
attends  such  disorders,  and  warps  the  temper  naturally 
good.  But  he  silently  used  his  piety  to  the  laudable  pur- 
pose of  regulating  not  only  his  actions,  but  his  words; 
yet  this  was  discovered  rather  from  observation  than  from 
his  own  profession,  as  he  was  remarkably  modest  and 
humble  on  religious  topics  ;  and,  for  fear  of  ostentation  on 
that  subject,  might  rather  err  on  the  opposite  side,  from 
an  awful  timidity,  which  might  not  always  give  a  just  idea 
of  his  unaffected  zeal  and  real  faith.  His  friendship, 
where  professed,  was  ardent;  and  he  had  a  spirit  in  a 
friend's  cause  that  rarely  appeared  on  other  occasions. 
He  was  amiable,  affectionate,  and  tender,  as  a  husband 
and  father ;  kind  and  indulgent  as  a  master ;  and  a  pro- 
tector and  advocate  of  the  poor  ;  benevolent  to  all,  as  far 
as  his  fortune  could  afford. 

As  he  had  many  leisure  hours,  he  passed  much  time  in 
literary  employments,  though  many  were  very  cheeriully 
given  to  society.  Among  his  published  productions  may- 
be mentioned,  the  "  Feminead,"  1754,  which  passed 


BUNCOMBE.  461 

through   two   editions,    and  has   been   reprinted  both    in 
tlu     Poetical     Calendar,     and     in     Pearch's     Collection. 
Four  Odes   appeared  in    1753,    viz.   "The    Prophecy  of 
Neptune;"    "  On   the    Death  of  the  Prince  of   Wales;" 
"  *Ode   presented   to  the  Duke   of  Newcastle  ;"   and  one 
"  *To  the  hon.  James  Yorke,"  first  bishop  of  St.  David's, 
and  afterwards  bishop  of  Ely.     Between  1753   and    1756 
came  out  separatelv,  "  *An  Evening  Contemplation  in  a 
College,"  being  a  parody  on  Gray's  Elegy ;"  reprinted  in 
"  The  Repository."     Other  detached  poems  of  Mr.  Dun- 
combe's  are,   "  *Verses  to  the  Author  of  Clarissa,"  pub- 
lished in  that  work  ;  "  *Verses  on  the  Campaign,   1759," 
(addressed   to  Sylvanus  Urban,  and  originally  printed  in 
the  volume  for  that  year)  ;  "  *To  Colonel  Clive,  on  his 
arrival  in   England  ;"    "  *On   the  Loss   of  the   Ramilies, 
Captain  Taylor,     1760;"    "  Surrey  Triumphant,    or  the 
Kentish  Men's  Defeat,  1773,"  4to  ;  a  parody  on   Chevy  - 
Chace ;  which,  for  its  genuine  strokes  of  humour,  elegant 
poetry,  and  happy  imitation,  acquired  the  author   much 
applause.     This  has  been  translated  into  "  Nichols's  Select 
Collection  of  Poems,    1782,"  where  may  be   found,  also, 
a  poem  of  his  on  Stocks  House  ;  a  translation  of  an  ele- 
gant epitaph,  by  bishop  Lowth  ;  and  an  elegiac  *'  Epitaph 
at  the  Grave  of  Mr.  Highmore."     Those  pieces  marked 
with  a  star  .are  in  the  Poetical  Calendar,  vol.  VII.  together 
with  a   Prologue   spoken   at  the  Charter-house,    1752  ;  a 
Poem   on   Mr.    Garrick ;     and    translations  from  Voltaire. 
And  in  vol.  X.   "  The  Middlesex  Garden  ;"  "  Kensington 
Gardens  ;"  "  Farevvel  to   Hope  ;"   "  On  a  Lady's  sending 
the  Author  a  Ribbon  for  his  Watch  ;"  "  On  Captain  Corn- 
wallis's  Monument ;"   "  Prologue  to   Amalasont ;"   "  Epi- 
grams."—  He    published   three   Sermons;    one   "  On  the 
Thanksgiving,  Nov.   29,   1759,"  preached  at  St.  Anne's, 
Westminster,    and   published    at  the   request  of  the    pa-4 
rishioners  ;  another,  "  preached  at  the  Consecration  of  the 
parish-church  of  St.  Andrew,   Canterbury,"  July  4,   1774; 
and   one,    "   On   a   General   Fast,    Feb.   27,    1778,"   also 
preached   at  St.  Andrew's,  Canterbury ;  and   so  well  ap- 
proved, that  by  the  particular  desire  of  the  parish,  it  ap- 
peared in  print  under  the  title  of  "  The  Civil  War  between 
the  Israelites   and    Benjamites    illustrated   and  applied." 
He  published   with   his   father,  in    1766,  a  translation  of 
Horace,  in  8vo ;  and  in  1767,  another  edition,  with  many 
enlargements  and  corrections,  in  4  vols.  12mo.     He  trans* 


462  BUNCOMBE. 

lated  the  "  Huetiana,"  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for 
1771.     In  1774,  he  translated  Batteley's  "  Antiquitates  Ru- 
tupinte."  He  wrote  "The  Historical  Account  of  Dr.  Dodd's 
Life,"   1777*,   8vo  ;  and  was  the  translator  of"  Sherlock's 
Letters  of  an  English  Traveller,"   1st  edition,  4to.     The 
2d  edition,   8vo,  was  translated  by  Mr.  Sherlock  himself. 
In   1778   he  published   "  An  Elegy  written   in  Canterbury 
Cathedral;"  arid  in  1784,  "  Select  Works  of  the  Emperor 
Julian,"  2  vols.  Svo.     In  1784  he  was  principally  the  au- 
thor of  "  The  History  and    Antiquities  of  Keculver  and 
Herne,"  which  forms  the  eighteenth  number  of  the  Biblio- 
theca  Topographica  Britannica ;    to   which   work   he  also 
contributed   in   1785,    the   thirtieth   number,    containing, 
"  The  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Three  Archiepisco- 
pal  Hospitals  in  and  near  Canterbury,"  which   he  dedi- 
cated to  archbishop  Moore.     He  was  the  editor  of  seve- 
ral other   works ;    all    of   which  were  elucidated   by  his 
critical  knowledge  and  explanatory  notes  ;  viz.   1.  "Let- 
ters from   several  eminent  persons,    deceased,   including 
the  correspondence  of  John   Hughes,  esq.  and  several  of 
his  friends ;    published   from    the    originals,    with   notes. 
Of  these  there  have  been  two  editions  ;  the  last  in  3  vols. 
2.   "  Letters  from  Italy  ;  by  the  late  right-hon.  John  earl 
of  Corke  and  Orrery,  with  notes,"    1773.      These  have 
gone  through  two  editions.     3.  "  Letters  from  the  late 
archbishop  Herring,  to  William  Buncombe,  esq.  deceased; 
from  1728  to  1757,  with  notes,  and  an  appendix,"    1777, 
He  was  also  the  author  of  a  Letter  signed  "  Rusncus,"  in 
"  The  World,"  vol.  I.  No.  36  ;  of  several  Letters  in  "  The 
Connoisseur,"    being   the    "  Gentleman    of    Cambridge, 
A.  B."  mentioned  in  the  last  number.     And  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine,  his  communications  in  biography,  poetry, 
and  criticism,  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life,  were 
frequent  and  valuable.     Many  of  them  are  without  a  name ; 
but  his   miscellaneous  contributions  were  usually  distin- 
guished by  the  signature  of  CRITO. 

Mr.  Buncombe's  widow  died  at  an  advanced  age,  Oct. 
28,  1812.     She  wrote  the  story  of  Fidelia  and  Honoria  in 

*  With  this  publication  we  are  un-  good  authority ;  yet,  if  the  work  was 
acquainted  ;  but  if  a  Life  of  Dodd  be  really  Mr.  Buncombe's,  the  report 
meant,  which  is  entitled  "  Historical  which  gives  it  to  Mr.  Reed  may  be  ac-" 
Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of"  counted  for  from  the  latter  having  con- 
Dr.  Dodd,  we  have  in  our  account  of  veyed  it  to  the  press  by  Mr.  Dun- 
that  unhappy  man,  attributed  it  to  Mr.  combe's  desire,  with  whom  he  wa> 
Isaac  Reed,  on  what  we  consider  as  tiuiate. 


D  U  N  D  A  S.  463 

the  "  Adventurer,"  and  some  small  contributions  to  the 
,  Poetical  Calendar,  and  Mr.  Nichols's  Poems.1 

DUNDAS  (ROBERT),  of  Arniston,  lord-president  of  the 
court  of  session,  was  the  second  son  of  Robert  Dundas, 
esq.  an  eminent  Scotch  lawyer,  and  was  born  Dec.  9,  1685. 
Though  in  no  period  of  his  life  distinguished  for  laborious 
application  to  study,  he  had  in  his  earlier  years  improved 
his  mind  by  an  acquaintance  with  general  literature  ;  and 
he  gained  by  practice,  aided  by  uncommon  acuteness 
of  talents,  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  law.  He  had 
been  but  eight  years  at  the  bar,  when  his  reputation  pointed 
him  out  as  the  fittest  person  to  hold  the  office  of  solicitor 
general,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  king  George  I.  in 
1717,  and  which  was  preparatory  to  that  of  lord  advocate  for 
Scotland,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in  1720.  In  1722  he 
was  elected  member  of  parliament  for  the  county  of  Edin- 
burgh ;  and  in  that  situation,  he  distinguished  himself  by 
a  most  vigilant  attention  to  all  public  measures,  in  which 
the  welfare  of  his  country  was  concerned,  and  by  a  steady 
and  patriotic  regard  for  its  interests.  On  the  change  of 
ministry,  which  took  place  in  1725,  when  sir  Robert  Wai- 
pole  and  the  Argyle  party  came  into  power,  Mr.  Dundas 
was  removed  from  his  office  of  king's  advocate,  and  re- 
sumed his  station  without  the  bar,  distinguished  only  by 
the  honourable  title  of  dean  of  the  faculty  of  advocates, 
till  he  was  raised  to  the  bench,  in  1737.  For  nine  years 
he  filled  the  seat  of  an  ordinary  judge  of  the  court  of  ses- 
sion, by  the  title  of  lord  Arniston,  till  1748,  when,  on  the 
death  of  Mr.  Duncan  Forbes,  of  Culloden,  he  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him  in  the  honourable  and  important  office  of 
president  of  the  court. 

While  a  barrister,  he  shone  equally  as  a  powerful  pleader 
and  an  ingenious  reasoner.  To  the  quickest  apprehension 
he  joined  an  uncommon  solidity  of  judgment ;  and  em- 
bracing in  his  mind  all  the  possible  arguments  which  were 
applicable  to  his  cause,  he  could  even  in  his  unpremedi- 
tated pleadings(,  discover  at  once  and  instantly  attach  him- 
self to  some  strong  principle  of  law  on  which  he  built  the 
whole  of  his  reasoning.  His  eloquence,  though  as  various 
as  the  nature  of  the  case  required,  was  constantly  subser- 
vient to  his  judgment;  and  though  master  of  all  the 
powers  of  expression,  he  rarely  indulged  himself  in  what 

1  Biog.  Brit,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Nichols. — Nichols's  Bowyer. — Gent.  Mag. 
passim.— -Granger's  Letters,  p.  53. — Richardson's  Correspondeiice,  vols.  II. 
and  III. 


464  D  U  N  D  A  S. 

is  properly  termed  declamation.  A  fine  specimen  of  his 
argumentative  powers  is  to  be  found  in  his  defence  of  Car- 
negie of  Finhaven.  This  gentleman  was  in  1728,  tried 
before  the  court  of  justiciary  in  Scotland,  for  the  murder  of 
Charles  earl  of  Strathmore.  At  a  meeting  in  the  country, 
where  the  company  had  drank  to  intoxication,  Carnegie, 
having  received  the  most  abusive  language  from  Lyon  of 
Bridgeton,  drew  his  sword,  and  staggering  forward  to  make 
a  pass  at  this  Lyon,  killed  the  earl  of  Strathmore,  a  person 
for  whom  he  had  the  highest  regard  and  esteem,  and  who 
unfortunately  came  between  him  and  his  antagonist,  ap- 
parently in  the  view  of  separating  them.  In  this  memo- 
rable trial,  Mr.  Dundas  had  not  only  the  merit  of  saving 
the  life  of  the  prisoner,  but  of  establishing  a  point  of  the 
utmost  consequence  to  the  security  of  life  and  liberty,  the 
power  of  a  jury,  which  at  that  time  was  questioned  in  Scot- 
land, of  returning  a  general  verdict  on  the  guilt  or  inno- 
cence of  the  person  accused. 

In  Scotland,  though  general  verdicts  appear  to  have 
been  authorised  by  the  most  ancient  practice  of  the  cri- 
minal court,  it  had  long  been  customary  to  consider  jury- 
men as  tied  down  to  determine  simply,  whether  the  facts 
in  the  indictment  were  proved  or  not  proved.  This  change 
from  the  ancient  practice  is  supposed,  with  much  reason,  to 
have  been  introduced  in  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles 
II.  at  a  time  when  we  find  the  king's  advocate  (Mackenzie) 
strenuously  contending  in  his  "  System  of  Criminal  Law,'* 
for  the  entire  abolition  of  juries.  The  latter  was  too  strong 
a  measure,  and  would  have  been  found  of  difficult  accom- 
plishment ;  the  former  was  of  easier  attainment,  and  an- 
swered nearly  the  same  end.  The  accused  person,  to 
satisfy  appearances,  and  for  the  show  of  justice,  was  still 
to  be  tried  by  his  peers ;  but  his  guilt  or  innocence  was 
rarely  within  their  cognizance ;  that  was  decided  by  the 
laws,  or  by  their  interpreters,  the  judges  ;  and  the  jury, 
tied  down  to  determine  solely  on  the  proof  of  facts,  was 
compelled  to  surrender  into  the  hands  of  these  judges,  and 
thus  often  to  sacrifice  the  life  of  a  fellow  citizen,  though 
convinced  of  his  innocence,  and  earnestly  desirous  of  his 
acquittal.  Thus  matters  stood  till  the  trial  of  Carnegie, 
who,  had  the  powers  of  a  Scotch  jury  remained  thus  cir- 
cumscribed, must  have  suffered  the  punishment  due  to  the 
foulest  malefactor;  the  court  had  found  the  facts  in  the 
indictment  "  relevant  to  infer  the  pains  of  law ;"  and  tha 


I)  U  N  D  A  S.  46S 

proof  of  these  facts  was  as  clear  as  noon-day.  There  re- 
mained no  hope  for  the  prisoner,  unless  the  jury  should 
be  roused  to  assert  a  right  which  they  had  long  relinquished, 
and  vindicate  the  privilege  of  deciding  on  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  the  accused  ;  and  this  great  point  was  gained 
by  the  powerful  eloquence  of  the  prisoner's  counsel.  The 
jury  found  the  prisoner  not  guilty ;  and  from  that  time, 
the  right  of  a  Scotch  jury  to  return  a  general  verdict,  is 
acknowledged  to  be  of  the  very  essence  of  that  institution. 

As  a  judge,  lord  Arniston  distinguished  himself  no  less 
by  the  vigour  of  his  talents,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  laws, 
than  by  his  strict  principles  of  honour  and  inflexible  inte- 
grity. His  own  idea  of  the  character,  both  of  a  lawyer  and 
of  a  judge,  remains,  penned  by  himself,  in  that  admirable 
euiogiuin  on  lord  Newhall,  which  stands  upon  the  records 
of  the  faculty  of  advocates;  and  many  of  those  various  ta- 
lents and  accomplishments  which  he  there  applied  to  ano- 
ther, were  in  a  peculiar  manner  his  own.  Although  he 
inherited  neither  the  ample  stores  of  various  knowledge, 
nor  the  enlarged  and  philosophic  mind  of  his  predecessor 
Forbes,  yet  he  possessed  a  sound  and  discriminating  judg- 
ment, and  the  manner  in  which  he  filled  the  high  offices  of 
the  law  in  times  of  much  difficulty,  from  the  prevalence  of 
party  spirit,  reflects  great  honour  on  his  moderation  and 
humanity.  This  eminent  lawyer,  after  a  life  devoted  to 
the  public  good,  died  August  26,  1753,  leaving  by  his  first 
wife,  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Watson,  esq.  of 
Muirhouse,  a  son,  Robert,  the  subject  of  our  next  article, 
and  by  his  second  wife  Anne,  the  daughter  of  sir  Robert 
Gordon  of  Invergordon,  bart.  five  sons  and  a  daughter, 
one  of  the  sons,  the  late  Henry  Dundas,  viscount  Melville.1 

DUNDAS  (ROBERT),  of  Arniston,  son  of  the  preceding, 
was  born  July  18,  1713.  He  received  the  earlier  parts  of 
his  education  under  a  domestic  tutor,  and  afterwards  pur- 
sued the  usual  course  of  academical  studies  in  the  univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh.  In  the  end  of  the  year  17.'i3,  he  went 
to  Utrechtj  where  the  lectures  on  the  Roman  law  were  at 
that  time  in  considerable  reputation.  He  remained  abroad 
for  four  years  ;  and  during  the  recess  of  study  at  the  uni- 
versity, he  spent  a  considerable  time  at  Paris,  and  in  visit- 
ing several  of  the  principal  towns  of  France  and  the  Low 

1  Transactions  of  the  Royal   Society  of  Edinburgh,  by  lord   Wood!]* 
TO!.  II. — His  lordship's  Life  of  lord  Kaines. — Sir  E.  Kvydges's  edition  < 
peerage. 

VOL.  XH.  H  ii- 


466  D  U  N  D  A  S. 

Countries.  Returning  to  Scotland  in  1737,  he  was  called 
to  the  bar  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  year ;  and,  in 
bis  earliest  public  appearances,  gave  ample  proof  of  his 
inheriting,  in  their  utmost  extent,  the  abilities  and  genius 
of  his  family.  His  eloquence  was  copious  and  animated  ;. 
in  argument  he  displayed  a  wonderful  fertility  of  invention, 
tempered  by  a  discriminating  judgment,  which  gave,  even 
to  his  unpremeditated  harangues,  a  methodical  arrange- 
ment; in  consultation,  he  possessed  a  quickness  of  appre- 
hension beyond  all  example  ;  and  his  memory,  which  was 
most  singularly  tenacious,  enabled  him  to  treasure  up,  and 
to  produce  instantaneous!}-,  every  case  or  precedent  which 
was  applicable  to  the  matter  before  him. 

Thus  liberally  endowed  by  nature  with  every  requisite 
to  eminence  in  his  profession,  he  had  the  honour  of  being 
appointed  solicitor-general  for  Scotland  in  September  1742, 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty-nine.  This  important  office  he 
held  only  for  four  years.  He  had  obtained  it  through  the 
favour  of  the  Carteret  administration,  which  was  then  in 
power;  but,  on  the  change  of  ministry,  which  took  place 
in  1746,  when  the  Pelham  party  regained  its  influence  in 
the  cabinet,  he,  together  with  the  other  friends  of  the 
former  ministry,  resigned  their  offices.  But  the  high  con- 
sideration in  which  he  then  stood  with  his  brethren  at  the 
bar,  was  not  diminished  by  the  loss  of  an  office  dependent 
on  ministerial  favour.  In  the  same  year,  1746,  he  was 
elected  dean  of  the  faculty  of  advocates,  and  continued  to 
preside  over  that  respectable  body  till  his  elevation  to  the 
bench  in  1760. 

In  the  beginning  of  1754,  Mr.  Dundas  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  parliament  for  the  county  of  Edinburgh ;  and  in 
the  following  snmmer  he  was  appointed  his  majesty's  ad- 
vocate for  Scotland.  In  parliament,  the  share  which  Mr. 
Dundas  took  in  public  business,  and  his  appearances  on 
many  interesting  subjects  of  discussion,  which  occurred  in 
that  important  period  during  which  he  sat  in  the  house  of 
commons,  were  such  as  fully  to  j  ustify  the  character  he 
had  already  attained  for  talents  and  ability.  Such  \vas  the 
complexion  of  the  times,  and  so  high  the  tide  of  party, 
that  it  was  perhaps  impossible  for  human  wisdom  to  have 
pointed  out  a  line  of  political  conduct  which  could  entirely 
exempt  from  censure.  The  lord  advocate  shared  with  the 
rest  of  his  party  in  the  censure  of  those  who  followed  an 
•pposite  plan  of  politics  ;  but  of  him  it  may  certainly  with 


D  U  N  D  A  S.  46? 

truth  be  affirmed,  that  in  no  instance  was  he  ever  known 
to  swerve  from  his  principles,  or  to  act  a  part  in  which  he 
had  not  the  countenance  of  many  of  the  firmest  friends  to 
the  interest  of  their  country.  He  was  chiefly  censured  for 
the  opposition  which  he  gave  to  the  establishment  of  a 
militia  in  Scotland,  by  a  great  party  in  that  country,  who 
warmly  supported  that  measure.  But  when  the  question 
is  dispassionately  viewed,  it  will  appear  to  be  one  of  those 
doubtful  points,  on  which  the  wisest  men  and  the  best 
patriots  may  entertain  opposite  opinions. 

On  June  14,  1760,  Mr.  Dundas  was  appointed  presi- 
dent of  the  court  of  session.  This  was  the  aera  of  the 
splendour  of  his  public  character.  Invested  with  one  of 
the  most  important  trusts  that  can  be  committed  to  a  sub- 
ject, he  acquitted  himself  of  that  trust,  during  the  twenty- 
seven  years  in  which  he  held  it,  with  such  consummate 
ability,  wisdom,  and  rectitude,  as  must  found  a  reputation 
durable  as  the  national  annals,  and  transmit  his  memory 
with  honour  to  all  future  times.  At  his  first  entry  upon 
office,  the  public,  though  well  assured  of  his  abilities,  was 
doubtful  whether  he  possessed  that  power  of  application 
and  measure  of  assiduity,  which  is  the  first  duty  of  the 
station  that  he  now  filled.  Fond  of  social  intercourse,  and 
of  late  engaged  in  a  sphere  of  life  where  natural  talents 
are  the  chief  requisite  to  eminence,  he  had  hitherto  sub* 
mitted  but  reluctantly  to  the  habits  of  professional  industry. 
But  it  was  soon  seen,  that  accidental  circumstances  alone 
had  prevented  the  developement  of  one  great  feature  of  his 
character,  a  capacity  of  profound  application  to  business. 
He  had  no  sooner  taken  his  seat  as  president  of  the  session, 
than  he  devoted  himself  to  the  duties  of  his  office  with  an 
ardour  of  which  that  court,  even  under  the  ablest  of  his 
predecessors,  had  seen  no  example,  and  a  perseverance  of 
attention  which  suffered  no  remission  to  the  latest  hour  of 
his  life.  He  maintained,  with  great  strictness,  all  the 
forms  of  the  court  in  the  conduct  of  business.  These  he 
wisely  considered  as  essential,  both  to  the  equal  admi- 
nistration of  justice,  and  as  the  outworks  which  guard  the 
law  against  those  too  common,  but  most  unworthy  artifices 
which  are  employed  to  prostitute  and  abuse  it.  To  the 
bar  he  conducted  himself  with  uniform  attention  and  rQ- 
spect.  He  listened  with  patience  to  the  reasonings  of  the 
counsel.  He  never  anticipated  the  arguments  of  the 
pleader,  nor  interrupted  him  with  questions  to  shew  hi* 

H  H  2 


468  D  U  N  D  A  S. 

own  acuteness;  but  left  every  man  to  state  his  cause 
his  own  way  :  nor  did  he  ever  interfere,  unless  to  restrain 
what  was  either  manifestly  foreign  to  the  subject,  or  what 
wounded,  in  his  apprehension,  the  dignity  of  the  court. 
In  this  last  respect  he  was  most  laudably  punctilious.  He 
never  suffered  an  improper  word  to  escape,  either  from- 
the  tongue  or  pen  of  a  counsel,  without  the  severest  ani- 
madversion ;  and  so  acute  was  that  feeling  which  he  was 
know  n  to  possess,  of  the  respect  that  was  due  to  the 
bench,  that  there  were  but  few  occasions  when  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  express  it. 

There  were  indeed  other  occasions,  on  which  his  feel- 
ings were  most  keenly  awakened,  and  on  which  he  gave 
vent  to  a  becoming  spirit  of  indignation.  He  treated  with 
the  greatest  severity  every  instance,  either  of  malversation 
in  the  officers  of  the  law,  or  of  chicanery  in  the  inferior 
practitioners  of  the  court.  No  calumnious  or  iniquitous 
prosecution,  no  attempt  to  pervert  the  forms  of  law  to  the 
purposes  of  oppression,  ever  eluded  his  penetration,  or 
escaped  his  just  resentment.  Thus,  perpetually  watchful, 
and  earnestly  solicitous  to  maintain  both  the  dignity  and  the 
rectitude  of  that  sup'reme  tribunal  over  which  he  presided, 
the  influence  of  these  endeavours  extended  itself  to  every 
inferior  court  of  judicature ;  as  the  motion  of  the  heart  is  . 
felt  in  the  remotest  artery.  In  reviewing  the  sentences  ui 
inferior  judges,  he  constantly  expressed  his  desire  of  sup- 
porting the  just  authority  of  every  rank  and  order  of  ma- 
gistrates ;  but  these  were  taught  at  the  same  time  to  walk 
with  circumspection,  to  guard  their  conduct  with  the  most 
scrupulous  exactness,  and  to  dread  the  slightest  deviation 
from  the  narrow  path  of  their  duty.  With  these  endow- 
ments of  mind,  and  high  sense  of  the  duties  of  his  office, 
it  is  not  surprising,  that  amidst  all  the  differences  of  sen- 
timent which  the  jarring  interests  of  individuals,  or  the 
more  powerful  influence  of  political  faction,  give  rise  to, 
thete  should  be  but  one  opinion  of  the  character  of  this 
eminent  man,  which  is,  that  from  the  period  of  the  insti- 
tution of  that  court  over  which  he  presided,  however  con- 
spicuous in  particular  departments  might  have  been  the 
merit  of  some  of  his  predecessors,  no  man  ever  occupied 
the  president's  chair,  who  combined  in  himself  so  many  of 
the  essential  requisites  for  the  discharge  of  that  important 
office.  But  while  we  allow  the  merits  of  this  great  man^ 
ia  possessing,  in  their  utmost  extent,  the  most  essential 


D  U  N  D  A  S.  469 

requisites  for  the  station  which  he  filled,  it  is  but  a  small 
derogation   from  the  confessed  eminence  of  his  character. 

O  _  * 

when  we  acknowledge  a   deficiency  in  some  subordinate 
qualities.     Of  these,   what  was  chiefly    to    be    regretted, 
and  was  alone  wanting  to   the  perfection  of  his    mental 
accomplishments,  was,  that  he  appeared  to  give  too  little 
weight  or  value  to  those  studies  which  are  properly  termed 
literary.     This  was  the  more   remarkable  in  him,  that,  in 
the  early  period  of  his  life,  he  had  prosecuted  himself  those 
studies   with  advantage  and  success.     In  his  youth  he  had 
made  great  proficiency  in  classical  learning  ;  and  his  me- 
mory retaining  faithfully  whatever  he  had  once  acquired, 
it  was   not  unusual  with  him,  even  in  his  speeches  on  the 
bench,  to  cite,  and  to  apply  with   much   propriety,    the 
most  striking  passages  of  the  ancient   authors.     But  for 
•these  studies,  though  qualified  to  succeed  in  them,  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  ever  possessed  a  strong  bent  or  inclina- 
tion.    If  he  ever  felt  it,  the  weightier  duties  of  active  life, 
which  he  was  early  called  to  exercise,  precluded  the  op- 
portunity of  frequently  indulging  it;  and  perhaps  even  a 
knowledge  of  the  fascinating  power  of  those  pursuits,  in 
alienating  the  mind  from  the  severer  but  more  necessary 
occupations,  might  have  inclined  him   at  last  to  disrelish 
from  habit,  what  it  had  taught  him  at  first  to  resist  from 
principle.     That  this  principle  was  erroneous,  it  is  unne- 
cessary to  consume  time  in  proving.    It  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that  as  jurisprudence  can  never  hope  for  any  material  ad- 
vancement as  a  science,  if  separated  from  the  spirit  of  phi- 
losophy, so  that  spirit  cannot  exist,    independent  of  the 
cultivation  of  literature.     That  the  studies  of  polite  litera- 
ture,  and  an  acquaintance   with  the  principles  of  general 
erudition,  while  they  improve  the  science,  add  lustre  and 
dignity  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  cannot  be  denied. 
So   thought  all    the   greatest    lawyers    of    antiquity.     So 
thought,  among  the  moderns,  that  able  judge  and   most 
accomplished    man,  of  whose   character  we   have  traced 
some  imperfect  features,  lord  Arniston,  the  father  of  the 
late  lord  president ;  of  which  his  inaugural  oration,  as  it 
stands  upon   the  records  of  the  faculty  of  advocates,   bears 
ample  testimony.      His  son,  it  is   true,  afforded  a  strong 
proof,  that  the  force  of  natural  talents  alone  may  conduct 
to  eminence  and  celebrity.     He  was  rich  in  native  genius, 
and  therefore  felt  not  the  want  of  acquired  endowments. 
But  in  this  he  left  an  example  to  be  admired,  not  imitated. 


470  B  U  N  D  A  S. 

Few  inherit  from  nature  equal  powers  with  his  ;  and  even 
of  himself  it  must  be  allowed,  that  if  he  was  a  great  man 
without  the  aids  of  general  literature,  or  of  cultivated  taste, 
be  must  have  been  still  a  greater,  had  he  availed  himself 
of  those  lights  which  they  furnish,  and  that  improvement 
which  they  bestow.  His  useful  and  valuable  life  was  ter- 
minated on  the  13th  of  December  1787.  His  last  illness, 
which,  though  of  short  continuance,  was  violent  in  its  na- 
ture, he  bore  with  the  greatest  magnanimity.  He  died  in 
the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age,  in  the  perfect  enjoyment 
of  all  his  faculties  ;  at  a  time  when  his  long  services  might 
have  justly  entitled  him  to  ease  and  repose,  but  which  the 
strong  sense  of  his  duty  would  not  permit  him  to  seek 
while  his  power  of  usefulness  continued;  at  that  period, 
in  short,  when  a  wise  man  would  wish  to  finish  his  course; 
too  soon  indeed  for  the  public  good,  but  not  too  late  for 
his  own  reputation.1 

DUNDAS  (HENRY),  LORD  VISCOUNT  MELVILLE,  brother 
to  the  preceding,  by  a  different  mother,  was  born  about 
1741,  and  was  educated  at  the  high  school  and  university 
of  Edinburgh.  Having  studied  the  law,  he  was,  in  1763, 
admitted  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  advocates,  and  soon 
rose  to  a  considerable  degree  of  eminence,  and  very  ex- 
tensive practice.  In  1773  he  was  appointed  solicitor- 
general,  and  in  1775,  lord  advocate  of  Scotland,  which 
office  he  retained  till  1783.  In  March  1777,  he  was  ap- 
pointed joint  keeper  of  the  signet  for  Scotland.  His  of- 
fice as  lord  advocate  necessarily  requiring  a  seat  in  par- 
liament, he  was  elected  for  the  county  of  Mid- Lothian, 
and  soon  distinguished  himself  as  a  supporter  of  admi- 
nistration in  all  the  measures  which  were  pursued  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war  with  America,  and  from  this  time 
appears  to  have  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  rising  in  his 
profession  as  a  lawyer.  In  his  new  pursuit  as  a  statesman, 
he  was  highly  favoured  by  natural  sense  and  talents,  which 
were  indeed  so  powerful  as  to  form  a  balance  to  his  de- 
fects in  elocution,  which  were  striking.  He  had  taken  no 

*  w 

pains  to  conquer  his  native  pronunciation,  which,  as  it 
frequently  provoked  a  smile  from  his  hearers,  would  have 
proved  of  the  greatest  disadvantage  in  the  heat  and  acri- 
mony of  debate,  had  he  not  evinced  by  the  fluency  and 

1  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  II. — Sir  E.  Brydges'g 
Ppeyage, 


DUNDAS.  471 

•acuteness  of  his  arguments  that  he  was  deserving  of  serious 
attention,  and  was  an  opponent  not  to  be  despised.  For 
declamatory  speaking,  and  addresses  to  the  passions,  he 
had  neither  taste  nor  talent ;  his  mind  was  intent  on  the 
practical  part  of  every  measure,  and  in  every  debate  that 
concerned  what  maybe  termed  business,  he  had  few  equals, 
and  his  speeches  were  perhaps  the  more  attended  to,  as 
he  made  it  a  point  to  reserve  them  for  such  occasions. 
During  lord  North's  administration  he  was  introduced  to 
no  ostensible  station ;  but  when  that  nobleman  and  his 
colleagues  were  obliged  to  retire  in  1782,  and  a  few  months 
after,  by  the  death  of  the  marquis  of  Rockingham,  their 
successors  were  obliged  to  resign,  Mr.  Dundas  joined  the 
young  minister,  Mr.  Pitt,  and  was  sworn  into  the  privy 
council,  and  appointed  treasurer  of  the  navy.  During  Mr. 
Pitt's  first  administration  the  general  peace  was  concluded, 
which,  however  necessary,  did  not  add  much  popularity  to 
the  ministry,  and  lord  North  and  Mr.  Fox,  with  their  re- 
spective friends,  or  the  greater  part  of  them,  having  formed 
what  was  termed  the  coalition,  Mr.  Pitt's  administration  was 
obliged  to  give  way  to  a  host  of  opponents,  which  was  con- 
sidered as  invincible.  On  this  occasion,  in  1783,  Mr. 
Dundas  was  deprived  of  his  offices  as  treasurer  of  the  navy, 
and  lord  advocate  for  Scotland. 

The  coalition-administration  lasted  a  very  few  months. 
The  formation  of  it  had  deprived  them  of  all  popularity, 
and  their  first  great  measure  precipitated  their  downfall. 
This  was  the  memorable  East  India  Bill,  in  opposition  to 
which  Mr.  Dundas  made  a  most  conspicuous  figure,  and 
discovered  a  knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  the  East-India 
Company  and  government,  which  had  evidently  been  the 
result  of  much  study  and  investigation,  and  in  which  at 
that  time  he  appeared  to  have  no  superior.  But  although 
Mr.  Fox's  bill,  by  the  strong  influence  which  he  and  his 
colleague  still  possessed,  was  passed  in  the  house  of  com- 
mons, it  was  lost  in  that  of  the  lords  ;  and  the  commons 
still  adhering  to  the  ministers,  the  business  of  government 
for  some  time  stood  still,  until  his  majesty,  by  a  dissolution 
of  parliament,  took  the  sense  of  the  people,  which  was 
decidedly  against  the  coalition-administration.  Mr.  Pitt 

J  O 

and  his  friends  were  then  seated  in  power,  supported  by  a 
majority  in  both  houses,  and  Mr.  Dundas  resumed  his 
office  as  treasurer  of  the  navy ;  but,  by  his  recommenda- 
tion, the  office  of  lord  advocate  of  Scotland  was  given  to 


472  D  U  N  D  A  S. 

]VIr.  Hay  Campbell,  afterwards  lord  president  of  the  court 
of  session.  The  first  measure  of  the  new  administration 
was  a  bill  for  the  better  regulation  of  the  affairs  of  the  East 
India  Qompany,  which,  although  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
not  very  different  from  that  of  Mr.  Fox,  as  far  as  regarded 
the  controul  to  be  established  over  the  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany, was  less  unpopular  in  other  respects.  Among  its 
other  provisions  was  the  creation  of  a  board  of  controul,  of 
which  Mr.  Dundas  was  appointed  president. 

In  1791,  Mr.  Dundas  became  a  member  of  the  cabinet, 
as  secretary  of  state  for  the  home  department,  an  office 
which  he  filled  with  peculiar  energy  and  vigour,  when  it 
became  necessary  to  adopt  measures  for  the  internal  de- 
fence of  the  country  against  a  portion  of  revolutionary 
spirit  derived  from  the  temporary  successes  of  the  French 
in  what  they  called  reforming  the  vices  of  their  govern- 
ment. To  Mr.  Dundas  has  also  been  ascribed  the  origin  of 
the  volunteer  system,  which  has  unquestionably  served  to 
display  the  loyalty  and  energies  of  the  nation  in  a  manner 
which  its  greatest  enemy  has  felt  severely.  In  1794,  when 
the  duke  of  Portland,  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  whig 
party,  joined  the  administration,  Mr.  Dundas  resigned  his 
office  of  secretary  for  the  home  department  to  his  grace, 
and  was  made  secretary  of  the  war  department.  The 
whole  of  his  transactions  in  this,  as  well,  indeed,  as  in  his 
former  office,  belong  so  strictly  to  history,  that  we  know 
not  how  to  separate  them,  and  even  if  our  limits  permitted, 
the  leading  events  of  that  most  eventful  period  are  too  re- 
cent to  admit  of  any  detail  superior  in  authority  to  the  an- 
nals of  the  day.  A  man  so  long  in  possession  of  uncommon 
power  must  necessarily  have  excited  much  envy  and  ma- 
lice ;  and  few  had  more  of  it  than  Mr.  Dundas.  They  who 
disapprove  of  the  political  system  pursued  by  Mr.  Pitt, 
will  of  course  be  equally  unfriendly  to  his  coadjutor,  and, 
in  many  measures,  certainly  his  adviser;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  large  number  of  comprehensive  minds  will  con- 
sider him  a  powerful  and  efficient  statesman,  who,  if  he 
was  sometimes  excessive  in  his  profusion,  and  too  careless 
in  his  means  and  instruments,  lost  nothing  by  a  cold,  nar- 
row, and  unwise  o?conomy,  which,  for  the  sake  of  small 
savings,  sacrifices  mighty  and  productive  ends ;  which  is 
fentangled  by  the  minute  formalities  of  office  ;  ami  wrapping 
itself  up  in  forbidding  ceremonies,  and  hanging  fearfully 
Over  the  precedents  of  the  nle3  is  unable  to  look  abroad. 


B  U  N  D  A  S.  473 

when  the  storm  is  out,  and  the  banks  and  mounds  are 
thrown  down.  The  candid  biographer  from  whom  we  have 
borrowed  these  remarks  adds,  with  great  justice,  that  until 
it  shall  he  proved,  that  the  evils,  which  even  this  country 
has  suffered  from  the  French  revolution,  would  not  have 
been  a  thousand  times  worse  by  Battering  and  yielding  to 
it,  surely  nothing  is  proved  against  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Pitt's 
administration. 

Mr.  Dundas  continued  in  his  several  offices  (with  the 
addition  of  keeper  of  the  privy  seal  in  Scotland,  conferred 
upon  him  in  1800,)  until  1801,  when  he  resigned  along 
with  Mr.  Pitt,  and  in  1802  was  elevated  to  the  peerage  by 
the  title  of  Viscount  Melville,  of  Melville  in  the  county  of 
Edinburgh,  and  Baron  Dunira  in  the  county  of  Perth.  On 
Mr.  Pitt's  return  to  office  in  May  1804,  lord  Melville  suc- 
ceeded lord  St.  Vincent  as  first  lord  of  the  admiralty,  and 
continued  so  until  the  memorable  occurrence  of  his  im- 
peachment. He  had,  while  treasurer  of  the  navy,  rendered 
jnuch  essential  advantage  to  the  service,  and  had  been  in- 
strumental in  promoting  the  comfort  of  the  seamen  by  the 
bills  he  introduced  for  enabling  them,  during  their  absence, 
to  allot  certain  portions  of  their  pay  to  their  wives  and  near 
relatives  ;  and  he  also  brought  forward  a  bill  for  regulating 
the  office  of  treasurer  of  the  navy,  and  preventing  an  im- 
proper use  being  made  of  the  money  passing  through  his 
hands,  and  directing  the  same  from  time  to  time  to  be 
paid  into  the  Bank ;  but  by  the  tenth  report  of  the  com- 
missioners for  naval  inquiry,  instituted  under  the  auspices 
of  the  earl  of  .St.  Vincent,  it  appeared  that  large  sums  of 
the  public  money  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  had  been 
employed  directly  contrary  to  the  act.  The  matter  was 
taken  up  very  warmly  by  the  house  of  commons,  and  after 
keen  debates,  certain  resolutions  moved  by  Mr.  Whi  thread 
for  an  impeachment  against  the  noble  lord,  were  carried 
on  the  8th  of  April,  1805.  On  casting  up  the  votes  on 
.the  division,  the  numbers  were  found  equal,  216  for,  and 
216  against;  but  the  motion  was  carried  by  the  casting 
vote  of  the  right  hon.  Charles  Abbot,  the  speaker.  On 
the  10th,  lord  Melville  resigned  his  office  of  first  lord  of 
the  admiralty,  and  on  the  6th  of  May  he  was  struck  from 
the  list  of  privy  counsellors  by  his  majesty.  On  the  26th  of 
June,  Mr.  Whitbread  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of 
lords,  accompanied  by  several  other  members,  and  solemnly 
impeached  lord  Melville  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanours; 


474  D  U  N  D  A  S. 

and  on  the  9th  of  July  presented  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of 
lords  the  articles  of  impeachment.  The  trial  afterwards 
proceeded  in  Westminster-hall,  and  in  the  end  lord  Mel- 
ville was  acquitted  of  all  the  articles  hy  his  peers.  That 
lord  Melville  acted  contrary  to  his  own  law,  in  its  letter, 
there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  actuated  by  motives  of  personal  cor- 
ruption, or,  in  fact,  that  he  enjoyed  any  peculiar  advantage 
from  the  misapplication  of  the  monies.  Those  under  him, 
and  whom  his  prosecutors,  the  better  to  get  at  him,  secured 
by  a  bill  of  indemnity,  employed  the  public  money  to  their 
own  use  and  emolument ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  lord  Mel- 
ville ever  had  the  use  of  any  part  of  it,  except  one  or  two 
comparatively  small  sums  for  a  short  period.  The  impro- 
priety of  his  conduct,  therefore,  was  not  personally  offend- 
ing against  the  act,  but  suffering  it  to  be  done  by  the  pay- 
master and  others  under  him  ;  and,  after  all,  no  money  was 
lost  to  the  public  by  the  malversations. 

Lord  Melville  was  afterwards  restored  to  his  seat  in  the 
privy  council,  but  did  not  return  to  office.  Sometimes 
he  spoke  in  the  house  of  lords,  but  passed  the  greatest 
part  of  his  time  in  Scotland,  where  he  died  suddenly, 
at  the  house  of  his  nephew,  the  right  honourable  Robert 
Dundas,  lord  chief  baron  of  the  exchequer  in  Scotland, 
IVIay  27,  1811.  His  lordship  married  first,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  David  Rennie,  esq.  of  Melville  Castle  ;  by 
whom  he  had  a  son  (the  present  lord  Melville)  and  three 
daughters;  and  secondly,  in  1793,  he  married  lady  Jane 
Hope,  sister  to  James  earl  of  Hopetown,  by  whom  he  had 
no  issue. 

Lord  Melville  possessed  all  the  natural  talents  of  his  re- 
latives and  ancestors,  but  like  them  was  deficient  in  lite- 
rary taste  or  acquirements.  He  was  completely  a  man  of 
business ;  in  office  regular  and  systematic,  and  to  appli- 
cants affable  and  attentive  ;  he  made  no  parade  of  profes- 
sions, and  those  who  sought  admittance  on  business,  or 
courted  his  patronage,  were  never  deluded  by  false  hopes. 
With  many  brilliant  examples  before  him  of  men  who  had 
become  great  by  popularity,  or  were  admired  for  the  re- 
finements of  courtesy,  he  had  no  ambition  to  emulate 
them.  His  acquisitions  from  keeping  the  best  company 
were  so  few,  that  he  knew  little  of  the  language,  and  no- 
thing of  the  eloquence  of  the  country  in  which  he  was  de- 
stined to  flourish  ;  and  although  he  acquired  an  unprece- 


D  U  N  D  A  S.  475 

dented  share  of  power  and  patronage,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  say  whom  he  courted  or  pleased.  The  arts  of  what  is 
termed  popularity,  he  neither  practised,  nor  understood. 
He  never  was  at  any  period  of  his  life,  a  popular  minister, 
yet  few  men  had  more  friends,  for  he  could  rank  among 
that  number  many  of  his  public  opponents,  who,  amidst 
all  the  bitterness  of  party  spirit,  paid  homage  to  the 
friendly,  liberal,  and  we  may  add,  convivial  tenor  of  his 
private  life  ;  and  to  his  open  and  undisguised  avowal  of 
sentiments  and  principles  to  which  he  adhered  without  a 
single  breach  of  consistency.  The  extent  of  his  patronage 
was  perhaps  his  misfortune,  for  while  it  brought  upon  him 
the  envy  of  those  who  would  have  had  no  scruple  to  share 
it,  it  also  rendered  him  liable  to  more  serious  censure.  A 
minister  who  is  pestered  by  solicitations  from  those  whom, 
he  wishes  not  to  refuse,  soon  loses  the  power  of  discrimi- 
nation ;  and  lord  Melville  was  peculiarly  unfortunate  in 
some  of  the  objects  of  his  bounty,  whose  faults  were  placed 
to  his  account,  and  whom  his  friendship  led  him  to  screen 
after  they  had  forfeited  their  character  with  the  public. 
Upon  the  whole,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  charac- 
ter during  the  present  generation  of  parties,  it  cannot, 
even  now,  be  denied  that  his  great  talents  for  business, 
both  in  parliament  and  in  council,  his  indefatigable  indus- 
try, and  his  benevolent  and  social  temper,  justly  rank  him 
among  the  most  eminent  of  our  political  leaders,  and  will 
secure  for  him  a  large  portion  of  the  approbation  of  future 
historians. l 

DUNGAL,  a  writer  of  the  ninth  century,  better  known 
by  his  works  than  his  personal  history,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  emigrated  to  France,  and 
there  probably  died.  Cave  and  Dupin  call  him  deacon, 
but  Dungal  himself  assumes  no  other  title  than  that  of  sub- 
ject to  the  French  kings,  and  their  orator.  In  his  youth 
he  studied  sacred  and  profane  literature  with  success,  and 
taught  the  former,  and  had  many  scholars,  but  at  last  de- 
termined to  retire  from  the  world.  The  influence  which 
Valclon  or  Valton,  the  abbot  of  St.  Denis  near  Paris,  had 
over  him,  with  some  other  circumstances,  afford  reason  to 
think  that  if  he  was  not  a  monk  of  that  abbey,  he  had  re- 
tired somewhere  in  its  neighbourhood,  or  perhaps  resided 

1  Brydges's  edition  of  Collins's  Peerage.  —  Biographical  Peerage,  vol.  II» 

kc.  &c. 


47o  X)  U  N  G  A  L. 

in  the  house  itself.  During  this  seclusion  he  did  not  for- 
sake his  studies,  but  cultivated  the  knowledge  of  philo- 
sophy, and  particularly  of  astronomy,  which  was  much  the 
.taste  of  that  age.  The  fame  he  acquired  as  an  astronomer 
induced  Charlemagne  to  consult  him  in  the  year  811,  on 
the  subject  of  two  eclipses  of  the  sun,  which  took  place 
the  year  before,  and  Dungal  answered  his  queries  in  a  long 
letter  which  is  printed  in  D'Acheri's  Spicilegium,  vol.  III. 
of  the  folio,  and  vol.  X.  of  the  4to  edition,  with  the  opinion, 
of  Ismael  Bouillaud  upon  it.  Sixteen  years  after,  in  the 
year  827,  Dungal  took  up  his  pen  in  defence  of  images 
against  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin,  and  composed  a  treatise 
which  had  merit  enough  to  be  printed,  first  separately,  in 
1608,  8vo,  and  was  afterwards  inserted  in  the  "  Biblio- 
theca  Patrum."  It  would  appear  also  that  he  wrote  some 
poetical  pieces,  one  of  which  is  in  a  collection  published  in 
1729  by  Martene  and  Durand.  The  time  of  his  death  is 
unknown,  but  it  is  supposed  he  was  living  in  the  year  834. ' 
DUN  LOP  (WILLIAM,  A.M.)  was  born  at  Glasgow, 
where  his  father  was  principal  of  the  university,  1692. 
In  1712  he  took  the  degree  of  A.  M.  and  afterwards  spent 
two  years  in  the  university  of  Utrecht,  having  at  that  time 
some  thoughts  of  applying  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law  ; 
but  he  was  diverted  from  that  resolution  by  the  persuasions 
of  Mr.  Wishart,  then  principal  of  the  college  of  Edinburgh, 
by  whose  interest  he  was  promoted  to  be  regius  professor 
of  divinity  and  church  history,  1716.  In  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  Mr.  Dunlop  procured  great  honour :  but  his  la- 
bours were  not  confined  to  the  professional  chair;  he 
preached  frequently7  in  the  parish  churches  in  Edinburgh, 
and  his  sermons  were  delivered  with  such  elegance  and 
justness  of  thought,  that  multitudes  flocked  after  him.  In- 
creasing daily  in  promoting  useful  knowledge,  and  acquiring 
the  approbation  of  the  virtuous  of  every  denomination,  he 
adorned  his  profession  by  the  most  exalted  piety,  and  lived 
equal  to  the  doctrines  he  taught.  In  the  arduous  discharge 
of  these  important  duties,  he  contracted  a  disorder  which 
brought  on  a  dropsy  ;  and  after  a  lingering  illness,  he  died 
at  Edinburgh  1720,  aged  twenty -eight.  His  works  are: 
Sermons  in  2  vols.  12mo,  and  an  "  Essay  on  Confes- 
sions of  Faith."  He  was  an  ornament  to  learning,  and  es* 
teemed  as  a  man  of  great  piety  and  worth.2 

'  F»;.in. — Moren.  8  Preceding  edition  of  this  Dictionary, 


D  U  N  L  O  P.  477 

BUNLOP  (ALEXANDER,  A.  M.)  was  brother  to  the 
above,  and  born  in  America,  where  his  father  was  a  vo- 
luntary exile,  1684,  and  at  the  revolution  came  over  to 
Glasgow,  where  he  had  his  education,  and  made  great 
progress  in  the  study  of  the  Greek  language.  In  172O 
he  was  appointed  professor  of  Greek  in  the  university  of 
Glasgow,  and  was  much  followed  for  the  art  of  teaching 
that  language  in  a  manner  superior  to  any  of  his  contem- 
poraries. In  1736  he  published  a  Greek  grammar,  which 
has  gone  through  several  editions,  and  is  still  very  much, 
esteemed,  and  is  the  one  chiefly  used  in  the  Scottish  uni- 
versities. He  died  at  Glasgow,  1742,  aged  fifty-eight.1 

DUNNING  (JOHN),  LORD  ASHBURTON,  an  eminent 
lawyer,  was  the  second  son  of  Mr.  John  Dunning,  of  Ash- 
burton,  co.  Devon,  attorney  at  law,  by  Agnes,  daughter  of 
Henry  Judsham,  of  Old  Port,  in  the  parish  of  Modbury, 
in  the  same  county..  He  was  born  at  Ashburton,  Oct.  18, 
1731.  At  the  age  of  seven  he  was  sent  to  the  free  gram- 
mar-school of  his  native  place,  where,  during  five  years, 
he  made  an  astonishing  progress  in  the  classic  languages. 
A  book  in  Homer,  or  in  the  ./Eneid  of  Virgil,  he  would 
get  by  heart  in  the  course  of  two  hours,  and  on  the  top  of 
the  school-room,  which  was  wainscotted,  he  drew  out  the 
diagrams  of  the  first  book  of  Euclid,  and  solved  them  at 
the  age  of  ten.  He  has  often  been  heard  to  say  that  he 
owed  all  his  future  fortune  to  Euclid  and  sir  Isaac  Newton. 
When  he  left  school  he  was  taken  into  his  father's  office, 
where  he  remained  until  his  attaining  the  age  of  nineteen, 
at  which  time  sir  Thomas  Clarke,  master  of  the  rolls,  (to 
whom  his  father  had  been  many  years  steward)  took  him 
under  his  protection,  and  sent  him  to  the  Temple. 

Here  he  is  said  to  have  been  admitted  an  attorney  in  the 
court  of  King's-bench,  but  remained  for  some  time  in  ob- 
scurity, until  the  consciousness  of  his  own  powers,  as  it 
may  be  presumed,  prompted  him  to  consider  his  sphere 
of  action  as  too  confined  fur  his  genius,  and  occasioned 
him  to  study  with  a  view  of  being  called  to  the  bar.  His 
application  to  this  pursuit  was  singular  and  unremitting, 
He  had  chambers  up  two  pair  of  stairs,  in  Pump-court, 
Middle-temple,  where  it  was  his  custom,  both  then,  and 
some  years  after  he  was  called  to  the  bar,  to  read  from  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning  till  late  in  the  evening,  without 

1  Preceding  edition  of  this  Dictionary . 


478  DUNNING. 

ever  going  out  of  his  chambers,  or  permitting  any  visits 
from  his  fellow  students.  He  then  dined,  (or  rather  made 
liis  dinner  and  supper  together,)  either  at  the  Grecian  or 
at  George's  coffee-house.  In  this  way  he  accumulated  a 
vast  stock  of  knowledge,  which,  however,  for  a  consider- 
able time  he  had  no  opportunity  of  displaying.  When 
admitted  to  the  bur,  he  travelled  the  western  circuit,  but 
had  not  a  single  brief;  and  the  historian  of  Devonshire 
says,  had  Lavater  been  at  Exeter  in  1759,  he  must  have 
sent  counsellor  Dunning  to  the  hospital  of  idiots.  Not  a 
feature  marked  him  for  the  son  of  wisdom.  Practice  came 
in  so  slowly,  that  he  was  three  years  at  the  bar  before  he 
received  one  hundred  guineas ;  but  at  length  he  was  en- 
abled to  emerge  from  this  state  of  obscurity,  and  commence 
that  career  which  led  to  fame,  opulence,  and  honours. 

In  1759,  the  authority  of  the  French  in  the  East  Indies 
was  entirely  overthrown  by  the  English  victories  in  that 
part  of  the  globe.  The  great  accession  of  power  which 
was  thus  thrown  into  the  successful  scale,  excited  the  jea- 
lousy of  the  Dutch,  who,  after  some  disputes  in  the 
country,  transmitted  their  complaints  home  in  form  against 
the  servants  of  the  English  East  India  company,  as  vio- 
lators of  the  neutrality,  and  interrupters  of  the  Dutch 
commerce.  These  complaints  were  delivered  to  sir  Joseph 
Yorke,  the  English  ambassador  at  the  Hague,  in  1761, 
and  soon  afterwards  were  communicated  to  the  public  in  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "  An  authentic  Account  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  their  High  Mightinesses  the  States  of  Hol- 
land and  West  Friezeland,  on  the  Complaint  laid  be- 
fore them  by  his  excellency  sir  Joseph  Yorke,  his  Bri- 
tannic Majesty's  Ambassador  at  the  Hague,  concerning 
hostilities  committed  in  the  river  of  Bengal,  &c."  4to.  As 
the  defence  of  the  English  company  against  these  charges 
was  absolutely  necessary,  it  became  requisite  to  select 
some  person  to  whom  the  task  of  their  vindication  might 
be  committed.  One  account  says  that  Mr.  Dunning  was 
at  that  time  known  to  the  late  Laurence  Sullivan,  esq. 
(long  a  Director,  and  many  times  chairman  and  deputy- 
chairman  of  the  East  India  Company),  as  a  barrister  of 
rising  talents  in  his  profession,  and  of  a  very  acute  and 
logical  understanding.  Another  account  says,  that  he  was 
introduced  to  Mr.  Sullivan,  in  this  character,  by  Mr.  Hus- 
sey,  one  of  the  king's  counsel ;  but  in  either  way,  it  was 
by  Mr.  Sullivan's  means  that  he  was  employed  in  drawing. 


-DUNNING.  479 

up  the  defence,  which  was  published  under  the  title  of 
"  A  Defence  of  the  United  Company  of  Merchants  of 
England  trading  to  the  East  Indies,  and  their  Servants  (par- 
ticularly those  at  Bengal),  against  the  Complaints  of  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company  ;  being  a  Memorial  from  the 
English  Company  to  his  Majesty  on  that  subject,"  1762, 
4to.  This  memorial,  which  produced  a  conciliating  an- 
swer and  proper  redress  from  the  Dutch  government,  was 
esteemed  a  master-piece  of  language  and  reasoning,  and 
was  so  perfectly  satisfactory  both  to  government  and  the 
East  India  Company,  that  it  is  said  the  latter  presented 
him  with  a  bank-note  of  500/. :  but  he  derived  his  highest 
reward  from  the  fame  it  procured  him  ;  and  as  he  now  be- 
came known  to  the  public  for  high  talents,  his  profession 
afforded  him  a  constant  security  for  having  those  talents 
well  employed. 

In  1763  an  opportunity  occurred  of  signalizing  himself 
in  an  affair  which  could  not  fail  to  make  him  popular. 
Wilkes  had  now  begun  to  make  a  figure  in  the  political 
world,  and  by  the  injudicious  conduct  of  the  administra- 
tion, was  rendered  a  man  of  that  consequence  which  nei- 
ther his  character  nor  abilities  could  have  otherwise  made 
him.  His  papers  being  illegally  seized  by  a  general  war- 
rant, he  commenced  actions  against  the  then  secretaries  of 
state,  and  Mr.  Dunning  being  retained  counsel  in  ajl  the 
causes,  distinguished  himself  in  a  manner  which  procured 
him  the  character  of  a  sound  constitutional  lawyer ;  and 
the  name  of  Dunning  was  frequently  and  distinctly  heard 
in  the  popular  cry  of  "  Wilkes  and  Liberty."  His  bu- 
siness from  this  time  gradually  increased,  and  in  1776  was 
nearly  equal  to  the  sum  of  10,000/.  per  annum. 

Previous  to  this,  however,  in  1766,  he  was  chosen  re- 
corder of  the  city  of  Bristol,  a  place  that  scarcely  pays  the 
expences  of  the  half-yearly  visitation,  but  which  has  always 
been  considered  as  an  honourable  preferment.  On  Dec. 
S3,  1767,  he  was  appointed  solicitor-general  in  the  room 
of  Edward  Willes,  esq.  then  promoted  to  the  King's-bench. 
In  this  office  he  continued  until  May  1770,  when  he  re- 
signed it,  along  with  his  friend  and  patron  lord  Shelburne, 
afterwards  marquis  of  Lansdowne,  and  returned  to  his  ori- 
ginal situation  at  the  bar,  without  any  distinction  from  the 
rest  of  his  brethren  but  what  he  was  entitled  to  from  the 
time  of  his  admission  into  the  profession.  In  1771,  he  was 
presented  with  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London,  a  favour 


4SO  DUNNING. 

\vhich  he  acknowledged  in  a  letter  written  with  elegance, 
yet  caution.  From  the  period  of  his  resignation  he  was 
considered  as  adhering  to  the  party  in  opposition  to  the 
administration  which  conducted  the  American  war,  and 
distinguished  himself  by  many  able  speeches  in  parliament, 
of  which  he  was  first  chosen  member  for  Calne  in  1768, 
and  continued  to  represent  the  same  borough  until  he  was 
called  to  the  peerage. 

On  the  change  of  administration  in  1782,  which  he  had 
laboured  to  promote,  he  was  appointed  through  the  in- 
terest of  his  friend  lord  Shelburne,  chancellor  of  the  duchy 
of  Lancaster,  one  of  the  places  against  which  he  and  his 
friends  had  often  objected  as  useless  and  burthensome  to 
the  public  ;  and  was  about  the  same  time  advanced  to  the 
peerage  by  the  title  of  lord  Ashburton,  of  Ashburton,  co. 
Devon.  This  honour,  however,  he  did  not  long  survive. 
His  constitution,  not  perhaps  originally  good,  was  now 
worn  down  by  indefatigable  labour  in  his  profession,  and  he 
died  on  a  visit  to  Exmouth,  August  18,  1783.  His  lord- 
ship married  in  17SO,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Baring, 
of  Larkbear,  co.  Devon,  esq.  sister  to  John  Baring,  esq. 
M.  P.  for  the  city  of  Exeter  at  that  time,  and  to  the  late 
sir  Francis  Baring,  bart.  By  this  lady  he  had  two  sons, 
John,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Richard  Barre,  the  present 
lord  Ashburton. 

Few  men,  in  a  career  requiring  the  gifts  of  voice,  per- 
son, and  manner,  had  ever  more  difficulties  to  struggle 
with  than  the  late  lord  Ashburton.  He  was  a  thick,  short, 
compact  man,  with  a  sallow  countenance,  turned-up  nose, 
a  constant  shake  of  the  head,  with  a  hectic  cough  which  so 
frequently  interrupted  the  stream  of  his  eloquence,  that  to 
any  other  man  this  single  defect  would  be  a  material  impe- 
diment in  his  profession  ;  and  yet,  with  all  these  personal 
drawbacks,  he  no  sooner  opened  a  cause  which  required 
any  exertion  of  talent,  than  his  mind,  like  the  sun,  broke 
forth  in  the  full  meridian  of  its  brightness.  His  elocution 
was  at  once  fluent,  elegant,  and  substantial,  and  partook 
more  of  the  knowledge  of  constitutional  law  than  that  de- 
rived from  the  old  books  and  reporters ;  not  that  he  was- 
deficient  in  all  the  depths  of  his  profession,  when  an  abso- 
lute necessity  called  him  out  (his  praise  being  that  of  the 
best  common  lawyer  as  well  as  the  best  orator  of  his  time) ; 
but  his  general  eloquence  partook  more  of  the  spirit  than 
the  letter  of  laws.  His  diction  was  of  the  purest  and  most. 


DUNNING.  481 

classical  kind  ;  not  borrowed  from  any  living  model  of  his 
time,  either  in  the  senate  or  at  the  bar ;  it  was  his  own 
particular  formation  ;  and  if  it  had  any  shade,  it  was  per- 
haps its  not  being  familiar  enough,  at  times,  to  the  com- 
mon ear  :  he  was,  however,  master  of  various  kind  of  styles, 
and  possessed  abundance  of  wit  and  humour,  which  often 
not  only  ';  set  the  court  in  a  roar,"  but  drew  smiles  from 
the  gravity  of  the  bench.  His  more  finished  speeches  in 
the  house  of  commons,  and  as  a  pleader  before  the  bar  of 
the  house  of  lords,  were  many  of  them  fine  models  of  elo- 
quence :  he  possessed  the  copia  verbprum  so  fully  that  he 
seldom  wanted  a  word;  and  when  he  did,  he  had  great 
Jinesse  in  concealing  it  from  his  auditory,  by  repeating 
some  parts  of  his  last  sentences  by  way  of  illustration  :  no- 
body had  this  management  better,  as  by  it  he  recovered 
the  proper  arrangement  of  his  ideas,  without  any  visible 
interruption  in  his  discourse. 

Though  in  the  meridian  of  this  celebrated  lawyer's  fame 
he  was  far  from  being  deficient  in  confident  boldness,  he 
originally  had  a  very  considerable  degree  of  diffidence. 
Practice,  however,  and  intimacy  with  the  manner  of  the 
bar,  enabled  him  to  overcome  this,  as  far  as  it  was  a  hin- 
drance, and  perhaps  a  little  farther,  for  often,  in  the  lati- 
tude of  cross-examination,  he  indulged  himself  in  sarcasms 
on  the  names  and  professions  of  individuals,  on  provincial 
characters,  &c.  together  with  those  of  whole  nations;  all 
of  which  were  much  below  his  learning,  his  taste,  and 
general  manners :  nor  can  we  any  other  way  account  for 
it,  than  from  that  contagion  which  is  sometimes  caught 
from  mixing  with  narrow  men  in  the  profession,  who  have 
no  other  way  of  shewing  their  own  importance,  than  by 
endeavouring  to  raise  it  on  the  diffidence,  the  weakness, 
or  modesty,  of  others.  He  did  not,  however,  always  escape 
unhurt  in  these  sallies ;  and  one  of  the  poets  of  that  day 
rallied  him  on  this  unmanly  practice.  He  got  another  rub 
from  his  friend  counsellor  Lee  (better  known  by  the  name 
of  honest  Jack  Lee)  on  this  account:  he  was  telling  Lee 
that  he  had  that  morning  purchased  some  manors  in  De- 
vonshire.— "  I  wish,"  said  the  other,  "  you  could  bring 
them  to  Westminster-hall." 

No  lawyer  .of  his  time  understood  the  English  constitu- 
tion better  than  Dunning.  He  knew  it  in  spirit  as  well  as 
in  law ;  and  it  was  this  profound  knowledge  that  kept  him 
from  countenancing  the  many  theoretical  systems  of  reform 

VOL.  XU.  1 1 


4S2  DUNNING. 

that  were  started  at  that  time,  and  by  several  of  his  friends. 
When  he  was  shewn  the  copy  of  the  duke  of  Richmond's 
bill  for  an  annual  parliament,  and  a  free  right  of  voting 
allowed  to  all  over  the  age  of  twenty- one  (women  and  lu- 
natics excepted)j  he  observed  in  his  dry  way,  "  The  best 
thing  about  the  bill  was  its  impracticability.'"  Though  so 
great  an  adept  in  jurisprudence,  he  was  very  little  inclined 
to  enter  into  a  lawsuit  himself  (a  caution  we  have  observed 
peculiar  to  all  great  lawyers)  :  one  night,  on  his  return  to 
his  house  at  Fulham,  his  steward  came  in  to  tell  him  that  a 
neighbouring  farmer  had  just  cut  down  two  great  trees  on 
his  premises.  "  Well,"  says  he,  "  and  what  did  you  say 
to  him  ?" — "  Say  to  him  !  Why  I  told  him  we  should 
trounce  him  severely  with  a  lawsuit." — "  Did  you  so  ?  then 
you  must  carry  it  on  yourself;  for  I  sha'n't  trouble  my 
head  about  it." 

He  preserved  the  dignity  of  a  barrister  very  much  in 
court,  and  frequently  kept  even  the  judges  in  check. 
When  lord  Mansfield,  who  had  great  quickness  in  disco- 
vering the  jut  of  a  cause,  used  to  take  up  a  newspaper  by 
way  of  amusing  himself,  whilst  Dunning  was  speaking,  the 
latter  would  make  a  dead  stop.  This  would  rouse  his 
lordship  to  say,  "  Pray  go  on,  Mr.  Dunning."  "  No,  my 
lord,  not  till  your  lordship  has  finished."  His  reputation 
was  as  high  with  his  fellow-barristers  as  with  the  public  ; 
he  lived  very  much  with  the  former,  and  had  their  affec- 
tion and  esteem.  When  lord  Thurlow  gave  his  first  dinner 
as  lord  chancellor,  he  called  Dunning  to  his  right  hand  at 
table,  in  preference  to  all  the  great  law  otBcers ;  and  when 
he  hesitated  to  take  the  place,  the  other  called  out  in  his 
blunt  way,  "  Why  will  you  keep  the  dinner  cooling  in  this 
manner  ?"  He  had  that  integrity  in  his  practice,  that  on 
the  opening  of  any  cause,  which  he  found  by  the  evidence 
partook  of  any  notorious  fraud  or  chicanery,  he  would 
throw  his  brief  over  the  bar  with  great  contempt,  and  re- 
sort to  his  bag  for  a  fresh  paper.  Whilst  he  was  in  the 
height  of  his  practice,  his  father  came  to  the  treasurer's 
office  in  the  Middle  Temple,  to  be  one  of  the  joint  securi- 
ties for  a  student  performing  his  terms,  <kc.  Wh<-n  he 
signed  the  bond,  the  clerk,  seeing  the  name,  asked  him 
with  some  eagerness,  whether  he  was  any  relation  to  the 
great  Dunning?  The  old  man  felt  the  praise  of  his  son 
with  great  sensibility,  and  modestly  replied,  "  I  am  John 
•Dunning's  father,  Sir." 


DUNNING.  483 

Few  lawyers,  without  any  considerable  paternal  estate 
at  starting,  and  dying  so  young  as  lord  Ashburton  did, 
ever  left  such  a  fortune  behind  him  ;  the  whole  amounting 
to  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  pounds  ! 
Nor  was  this  the  hoard  of  a  miser,  for  he  always  lived  like 
a  gentleman  in  the  most  liberal  sense  of  the  word,  though, 
from  his  immense  practice,  he  had  no  time  to  indulge  in 
the  arrangements  of  a  regular  establishment.  During  his 
illness,  as  a  last  resource  he  was  advised  to  try  his  native 
air,  and  in  going  down  to  Devonshire  accidentally  met,  at 
the  same  inn,  his  old  colleague  Wallace,  lately  attorney- 
general,  coming  to  town  on  the  same  melancholy  errand, 
to  be  near  the  best  medical  assistance.  It  was  the  l6t  of 
both  to  be  either  legal  or  political  antagonists  through  the 
whole  course  of  their  lives,  in  which  much  keenness,  and 
much  dexterity  of  argument,  were  used  on  both  sides  : 
here,  however,  they  met  as  friends,  hastening  to  that  goal, 
where  the  race  of  toil,  contention,  and  ambition,  was 
soon  to  have  a  final  close.  They  supped  together  with  as 
much  conviviality  as  the  nature  of  their  conditions  would 
admit,  and  in  the  morning  parted  wiih  mutual  promises  of 
visiting  each  other  early  in  the  winter.  These  promises, 
however,  were  never  performed  :  Dunning  died  in  August, 
and  Wallace  in  November. 

Besides  the  answer  to  the  Dutch  memorial,  lord  Ash- 
burton  is  supposed  to  have  been  concerned  in  a  pamphlet 
on  the  law  of  libels,  and  to  have  written  "  A  Letter  to  the 
Proprietors  of  East-India  Stock,  on  the  subject  of  lord 
dive's  Jaghire,  occasioned  by  his  lordship's  letter  on  that 
subject,"  1764,  Svo.1 

DUNOIS  (JOHN),  a  brave  French  officer,  count  of  Or- 
leans and  of  Longueville,  and  the  natural  son  of  Louis 
duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  assassinated  by  the  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, was  born  Nov.  23,  1407,  and  began  his  career, 
during  the  war  which  the  English  carried  on  in  France,  by 
the  defeat  of  the  earls  of  Warwick  and  Suffolk,  whom  he 
pursued  to  the  gates  of  Paris.  Orleans  being  besieged  by 
the  English,  he  bravely  defended  that  town,  until  Joan  of 
Arc  was  enabled  to  bring  him  succours.  The  raising  of 
the  siege  was  followed  by  a  train  of  successes,  and  Dunois 
had  almost  the  whole  honour  of  driving  the  enemy  out  of 

1   European   Mag.    1793 — Westminster   Mair.    1780.-W3rydjt  s'i   edition  of 
Collin*'s  Peerageir— Polwheie's  Hist,  of  Devonshire. 

1  I   2 


484  D  U  N  O  I  S. 

Normandy  and  la  Guienne.     He  gave  them  the  fatal  blow 
at  Castillon,  in  1451,  after  having  taken  from  them  Blaie, 
Fronsac,  Bourdeaux,and  Bayonne.     Charles  VII.  owed  his 
throne  to  the  sword  of  Dunois;  nor  was  he  ungrateful,  for 
he  bestowed  on  him  the  title  of  restorer  of  his  country, 
made  him  a  present   of  the  comte"   of  Longueville,  and 
honoured    him  with  the   office  of  grand   chamberlain   of 
France.     He  was  held  in  equal  esteem  by  Louis  XI.    Count 
cle  Dunois,  under  the  reign  of  that  prince,  entered  into 
the  league  of  what  was  called  the  Public-good,  of  which, 
by  his  conduct  and  experience,  he  became  the  principal 
supporter.     The  hero  died   Nov.  24,  1468,  aged  61,  re- 
garded as  a  second  du  Guesclin,  and  not  less  dreaded  by 
the  enemies  of  his  country,  than  respected  by  his  fellow- 
citizens,  for  his  valour,  which  was  always  guided  by  pru- 
dence, for    his   magnanimity,  his   beneficence,  and  every 
rirtue  that  enters  into  the  character  of  a  truly  great  man. l 
DUNS  (JOHN),  surnamed  SGOTUS,  an  eminent  scholastic 
divine,  who  flourished  in  the  latter  end  of  the  thirteenth 
and  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  was  born  at 
Dunstance,  in  the  parish  of  Emildun  or  Embleton,  near 
Alnwick   in    Northumberland.      Some    writers   have   con- 
tended that  he  was  a  Scotsman,  and  that  the  place  of  his 
birth  was  Duns,  a  village  eight  miles  from  England,  and 
others  have  asserted  that  he  was  an  Irishman.     He  is,  how- 
ever, treated   as  an  Englishman  by  all  the  early  authors 
who  speak  of  him  ;  and  the  conclusion  of  the  MS  copy  of 
his  works  in  Merton  college,  gives  his  name,  country,  and 
the  place  where  he  was  born,  as  stated  above.     When  a 
youth,  he  joined  himself  to  the  minorite  friars  of  New- 
castle ;  and,  being  sent  by  them  to  Oxford,  he  was  ad- 
mitted  into   Merton  college,  of  which,  in   due   time,  he 
became  fellow.     Here,  besides  the  character  he  attained 
in  scholastic  theology,  he  is  said  to  have  been  very  emi- 
nent for  his  knowledge  in  the  civil  and  canon  law,  in  logic, 
natural  philosophy,  metaphysics,  mathematics,  and  astro- 
nomy.     Upon   the  removal  of  William  Varron  from   Ox- 
ford to  Paris,  in  1301,   Duns  Scotus  was  chosen  to  supply 
his  place  in  the  theological  chair;  which  office  he  sustained 
with  such  reputation,  that  more  than  thirty-thousand  scho- 
lars came  to  the  university  to  be  his   hearers,  a  number 
which,  though  confidently  asserted  by  several  writers,  we 

»  Diet.  Hist. 


DUNS.  485 

admit  with  great  hesitation*.  After  John  Duns  had  lectured 
three  years  at  Oxford,  he  was  called,  in  1304,  to  Paris, 
where  he  was  honoured  with  the  degrees,  first  of  bachelor, 
and  then  of  doctor  in  divinity.  At  a  meeting  of  the  monks 
of  his  order  at  Tholouse,  in  1307,  he  was  created  regent; 
and  about  the  same  time  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
theological  schools  at  Paris.  Here  he  is  affirmed  to  have 
first  broached  the  doctrine  of  the  immaculate  conception 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  to  have  supported  his  position  by 
two  hundred  arguments,  which  appeared  so  conclusive, 
that  the  members  of  the  university  of  Paris  embraced  the 
opinion  ;  instituted  the  feast  of  the  immaculate  conception ; 
and  issued  an  edict,  that  no  one,  who  did  not  embrace  the 
same  opinion,  should  be  admitted  to  academical  degrees. 
In  1308,  Duns  Scotus  was  ordered  by  Gonsalvo,  the  gene- 
ral of  the  Minorites,  to  remove  to  Cologn,  on  the  road  to 
which  he  was  met  in  solemn  pomp,  and  conducted  thither 
by  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens.  Not  long  after  his  ar- 
rival in  this  city,  he  was  seized  with  an  apoplexy,  which 
carried  him  off,  on  the  eighth  of  November,  1308,  in  the 
forty-third,  or,  as  others  say,  in  the  thirty-fourth,  year  of 
his  age.  Paul  Jovius's  account  of  the  mode  of  his  death 
is,  that  when  he  fell  down  of  his  apoplexy  he  was  imme- 
diately interred  as  dead ;  but  that,  afterwards  coming  to 
his  senses,  he  languished  in  a  most  miserable  manner  in  his 
coffin,  beating  his  head  and  hands  against  its  sides,  till  he 
died.  This  story,  though  generally  treated  as  a  fable,  is 
hinted  at  by  Mr.  Whavton,  who  says,  "  Apoplexia  cor- 
reptus,  et  festinato  nimis,  ut  volunt,  funere  elatus,"  and 
whether  true  or  not,  gave  occasion  to  the  following  epi- 
taph : 

"  Otiod  nulli  ante  homini  accidit,  viator, 

Hie  Scotus  jaceo,  semel  sepultus, 
Et  bis  mortuus  :  Omnibus  Sophistis 
Argutus  magis  atque  captiosus." 

John  Duns  was  at  first  a  follower  of  Thomas  Aquinas ; 
but,  differing  from  his  master  on  the  question  concerning 
the  efficacy  of  divine  grace,  he  formed  a  distinct  sect,  and 

*  In   1535,   at  a  visitation  of  the  have  set  Dunce  in  Bocanlo  (a  prison 

university   by  Dr.  London  warden    of  so  called),  and  have  utterly  banished 

New-college,  and  other*,  appointed  by  him  Oxford  for  ever,  with  all  his  blynd 

king  Henry  VIII.   the  works  of  Duns  glosses,  and  is  now  made  a  common 

Scotus  were  treated  very  scurvily,  as  servant  to  every  man,  fast  nayled  up 

appears  by  a  letter  from  one  of  the  upon  posts  in  all  common  houses  of 

visitors  to  secretary  Cromwell.— "  Wee  casement,"  &c. 


486  DUN  S. 

hence  the  denominations  of  the  Thomists  and  Scotists, 
who  were  engaged  for  centuries  in  eager  and  trifling  dis- 
putes, and  the  nances  of  the  two  sects  still  subsist  in  some 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  schools.  On  account  of  Scotus's 
acuteness  in  disputation,  he  was  called  "  the  most  subtile 
Doctor;"  but  his  ingenuity  was  wholly  employed  in  em- 
barrassing, with  new  fictions  of  abstraction,  and  with  other 
scholastic  chimeras,  subjects  already  sufficiently  perplexed. 
He  was  the  author  of  a.  vast  number  of  works,  several  of 
which  have  been  separately  published,  and  in  1474,  the 
English  Franciscans  printed  a  collection  of  the  larger  part. 
At  length,  the  whole  of  them  (some  few  still  remaining  in 
manuscript  excepted)  were  collected  together  by  Luke 
\Vadding,  illustrated  with  notes,  and  published  at  Lyons 
in  1639,  in  12  vols.  folio.  Absurd  as  many  of  the  ques- 
tions were  which  called  forth  the  exertions  of  his  talents, 
it  is  probable  that  in  a  more  enlightened  age,  genius  and 
abilities  like  his  might  have  been  of  lasting  benefit  to  pos- 
terity. 

It  may  not  be  unamusing  to  recite  an  example  of  the 
extravagant  praises  that  have  been  bestowed  upon  Duns 
Scotus  by  his  followers.  They  tell  us  that  "  He  was  so 
consummate  a  philosopher,  that  he  could  have  been  the 
inventor  of  philosophy,  if  it  had  not  before  existed.  His 
knowledge  of  all  the  mysteries  of  religion  was  so  profound 
and  perfect,  that  it  was  rather  intuitive  certainty  than  be- 
lief. He  described  the  divine  nature  as  if  he  had  seen 
God  ; — the  attributes  of  celestial  spirits,  as  if  he  had  been 
an  angel ; — the  felicities  of  a  future  state,  as  if  he  had  en- 
joyed them  ; — and  the  ways  of  providence,  as  if  he  had 
penetrated  into  all  its  secrets.  He  wrote  so  many  books, 
that  one  man  is  hardly  able  to  read  them  ;  and  no  one  man 
is  able  to  understand  them.  He  would  have  written  more, 
if  he  had  composed  with  less  care  and  accuracy.  Such  was 
our  immortal  Scotus,  the  most  ingenious,  acute,  and  sub- 
tile, of  the  sons  of  men."  His  portraits  at  Windsor  and 
Oxford  have  been  generally  considered  as  ideal.1 

DUNSTABLE  (JOHN),  "an  English  musician  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  at  an  early  stage  of  counterpoint,  acquired 
on  the  continent  the  reputation  of  being  its  inventor, 
which,  however,  Dr.  Burney  has  proved  could  not  belong 

i  Bale,  Pits,  and  Tanner. — Cave,  vol.  II. — Biog.  Brit. — Wood's  Annals^— . 
Mackenzie's  Scotch  writers,  vol.  I. 


D  U  N  S  T  A  B  L  E.  487 

to  him.  He  was  the  musician  whom  the  Germans,  from  A 
similarity  of  name,  have  mistaken  for  saint  Dunstan,  and 
to  whom,  as  erroneously,  they  have  ascrihed  with  others 
the  invention  of  counterpoint  in  four  parts.  He  was  author 
of  the  musical  treatise  "  De  Mensurabili  Musica,"  which 
is  cited  by  Franchinus,  Morley,  and  Ravenscroft.  But 
though  this  work  is  lost,  there  is  still  extant  in  the  Bodleian, 
library,  a  Geographical  Tract  by  this  author ;  and,  if  we 
may  believe  his  epitaph,  which  is  preserved  by  Weever,  he 
was  not  only  a  musician,  but  a  mathematician,  and  an  emi- 
nent astrologer.  Of  his  musical  compositions  nothing  re- 
mains but  two  or  three  fragments  in  Franchinus,  and  Morley. 
He  is  very  unjustly  accused  by  this  last  writer  of  separating 
the  syllables  of  the  same  words  by  rests.  Stow  calls  him  "  a 
master  of  astronomy  and  music,"  and  says  he  w;;s  buried 
in  the  church  of  St.  Stephen,  Walbrook,  in  1458. l 

DUNSTAN  (ST.)  was  born  of  noble  parents  at  Glaston- 
bury,  in  Somersetshire,  in  the  year  925.  Under  the  pa- 
tronage of  his  uncle  Aldhelm,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
he  was  instructed  in  the  literature  and  accomplishments  of 
those  times,  and  in  consequence  of  his  recommendation 
invited  by  king  Athelstan  to  court,  who  bestowed  on  him 
lands  near  Glastonbury,  where  he  is  said  to  have  spent 
some  years  in  retirement.  Edmund,  the  successor  of 
Athelstan,  appointed  him  abbot  of  the  celebrated  monas- 
tery which  he  began  to  rebuild  in  that  place  in  the  year 
i)42,  and  by  the  munificence  of  the  king,  who  gave  him  a 
new  charter  in  the  year  S>44,  he  was  enabled  to  restore  it 
to  its  former  lustre.  Among  other  legendary  stories  re- 
ported of  St.  Dunstan  we  are  told  that  he  had  been  repre- 
sented to  the  king  as  a  man  of  licentious  manners  ;  and 
dreading  the  ruin  of  his  fortune  by  suspicions  of  this  na- 
ture, he  determined  to  repair  past  indiscretions  by  ex- 
changing the  extreme  of  superstition  for  that  of  licentious- 
ness. Accordingly  he  secluded  himself  altogether  from 
the  world  :  and  he  framed  a  cell  so  small  that  he  could 
neither  stand  erect  in  it,  nor  stretch  out  his  limbs  during 
his  repose  ;  and  here  he  employed  himself  perpetually  in 
devotion  or  manual  labour.  In  this  retreat  his  mind  was 
probably  somewhat  deranged ;  and  he  indulged  chimeras 
which,  believed  by  himself  and  announced  to  the  credulous 
multitude,  established  a  character  of  sanctity  amonar  the 

*  */  O 

*  Burney's  Hist,  of  Music,  TO!.  II, 


488  D  U  N  S  T  A  N". 

people.  He  is  said  to  have  fancied  that  the  devil,  among 
the  frequent  visits  which  he  paid  him,  was  one  day  more 
earnest  than  usual  in  his  temptations ;  till  Dunstan,  pro- 
voked hy  his  importunity,  seized  him  by  the  nose  with  a 
pair  of  red-hot  pincers  as  he  put  his  head  into  the  cell, 
and  he  held  him  there  till  the  malignant  spirit  made  the 
whole  neighbourhood  resound  with  his  bellowings.  The 
people  credited  and  extolled  this  notable  exploit,  and  it  en- 
sured to  Dunstan  such  a  degree  of  reputation,  that  he  ap- 
peared again  in  the  world,  and  Edred,  who  had  succeeded 
to  the  crown,  made  him  not  only  the  director  of  that 
prince's  conscience,  but  his  counsellor  in  the  most  im- 
portant affairs  of  government.  He  was  also  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  treasury  ;  and  being  possessed  of  power  at 
court,  and  of  credit  with  the  populace,  he  was  enabled 
to  attempt  with  success  the  most  arduous  enterprises. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  implicit  confidence  reposed  in 
him  by  the  king,  Dunstan  imported  into  England  a  new 
order  of  monks,  the  Benedictines,  who,  by  changing  the 
state  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  excited,  on  their  first  establish- 
ment, the  most  violent  commotions.  Finding  also  that  his 
advancement  had  been  owing  to  the  opinion  of  his  auste- 
rity, he  professed  himself  a  parti zan  of  the  rigid  monastic 
rules  ;  and  after  introducing  that  reformation  into  the  con- 
vents of  Glastonbury  and  Abingdon,  he  endeavoured  to 
render  it  universal  in  the  kingdom.  This  conduct,  how- 
ever, incurred  the  resentment  of  the  secular  clergy  ;  and 
these  exasperated  the  indignation  of  many  courtiers,  which 
had  been  already  excited  by  the  haughty  and  over-bearing 
demeanour  which  Dunstan  assumed.  Upon  the  death  of 
Edred,  who  had  supported  his  prime-minister  and  favou- 
rite in  all  his  measures,  and  the  subsequent  succession  of 
Edwy,  Dunstan  was  accused  of  malversation  in  his  office, 
and  banished  the  kingdom.  But,  on  the  death  of  Edwy, 
and  the  succession  of  Edgar,  Dunstan  was  recalled  and 
promoted  first  to  the  see  of  Worcester,  then  -to  that  of 
London  ;  and  about  the  year  959,  to  the  archiepiscopal 
see  of  Canterbury.  For  this  last  advancement  it  was  re- 
quisite to  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  pope  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  Dunstan  was  sent  to  Rome,  where  he  soon  ob- 
tained the  object  of  his  wishes,  and  the  appointment  of  le- 
gate in  England,  with  very  extensive  authority.  Upon  his 
return  to  England,  so  absolute  was  his  influence  over  the 


D  U  N  S  T  A  N.  489 

king,  he  was  enabled  to  give  to  the  Romish  see  an  autho- 
rity and  jurisdiction,  of  which  the  English  clergy  had  been 
before  in  a  considerable  degree  independent.  In  order 
the  more  effectually  and  completely  to  accomplish  this  ob- 
ject, the  secular  clergy  were  excluded  from  their  livings, 
and  disgraced ;  and  the  monks  were  appointed  to  supply 
their  places.  The  scandalous  lives  of  the  secular  clergy 
furnished  one  plea  for  this  measure,  and  it  was  not  alto- 
gether groundless  ;  but  the  principal  motive  was  that  of 
rendering  the  papal  power  absolute  in  the  English  church  ; 
for,  at  this  period,  the  English  clergy  had  not  yielded  im- 
plicit submission  to  the  pretended  successors  of  St.  Peter, 
as  they  refused  to  comply  with  the  decrees  of  the  popes, 
which  enjoined  celibacy  on  the  clergy.  Dunstan  was  ac- 
tive and  persevering,  and  supported  by  the  authority  of 
the  crown,  he  conquered  the  struggles  which  the  country 
had  long  maintained  against  papal  dominion,  and  gave  to 
the  monks  an  influence,  the  baneful  effects  of  which  were 
experienced  in  England  until  the  era  of  the  reformation. 
Hence  Dunstan  has  been  highly  extolled  by  the  monks  and 
partizans  of  the  Romish  church ;  and  his  character  has 
been  celebrated  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and  particularly  by 
the  miracles  which  have  been  wrought  either  by  himself 
or  by  others  in  his  favour.  During  the  whole  reign  of  Ed- 
gar, Dunstan  maintained  his  interest  at  court;  and  upon 
his  death,  in  the  year  975,  his  influence  served  to  raise 
his  son  Edward  to  the  throne,  in  opposition  to  Ethelred. 
Whilst  Edward  was  in  his  minority,  Dunstan  ruled  with 
absolute  sway,  both  in  the  church  and  state,  but  on  the 
murder  of  the  king,  in  the  year  979,  and  after  the  ac- 
cession of  Ethelred,  his  credit  and  influence  declined  ; 
and  the  contempt  with  which  his  threatenings  of  divine 
vengeance  were  regarded  by  the  king,  are  said  to  have 
mortified  him  to  such  a  degree,  that  on  his  return  to  his 
archbishopric,  he  died  of  grief  and  vexation,  May  19,  988. 
A  volume  of  his  works  was  published  at  Doway,  in  1626. 
His  ambition  has  given  him  a  considerable  place  in  eccle- 
siastical and  civil  history  ;  and  he  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  of  extraordinary  talents.  Dr.  Burney,  in  his  history, 
notices  his  skill  in  music,  and  his  biographers  also  inform 
us  that  he  was  a  master  of  drawing,  engraved  and  took 
impressions  from  gold,  silver,  brass,  and  iron,  and  that 
he  even  practised  something  like  printing.  Gervase's 


490  D  U  N  T  O  N. 

words  are,   "  literas  formare,"  which  however,  we  think, 
means  no  more  than  that  he  cut  letters  on  metal.1 

DUNTON  (JOHN),  bookseller  and  miscellaneous  writer, 
was  born  at  Graff  bam,  in  Huntingdonshire,  the  14th  of  May, 
1659;  the  son  of  John  Dunton,  fellow  of  Trinity-college, 
Cambridge,  and  rector  of  Graft  ham,  whose  works  he  pub- 
lished in  8vo,  embellished  with  very  curious  engravings. 
Dunton  was  in  business  upwards  of  twenty  years,  during 
which  time  he  traded  considerably  in  the  Stationers'  com- 
pany ;  but,  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  he 
failed,  and  commenced  author ;  and  in  1701,  was  amanu- 
ensis to  the  editor  of  a  periodical  paper  called  the  "  Post 
Angel."  He  soon  after  set  up  as  a  writer  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  public  ;  and  projected  and  carried  on,  with 
the  assistance  of  others,  the  "  Athenian  Mercury,"  or  a 
scheme  to  answer  a  series  of  questions  monthly,  the  querist 
remaining  concealed.  This  work  was  continued  to  about 
20  volumes  ;  and  afterwards  reprinted  by  Bell,  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Athenian  Oracle,"  4  vols.  Svo.  It  forms  a 
strange  jumble  of  knowledge  and  ignorance,  sense  and 
nonsense,  curiosity  and  impertinence.  In  1710  he  pub- 
lished his  "  Athenianism,"  or  the  projects  of  Mr.  John 
Dunton,  author  of  the  "  Essay  on  the  hazard  of  a  death- 
bed repentance."  This  contains,  amidst  a  prodigious  va- 
riety of  matter,  six  hundred  treatises  in  prose  and  verse, 
by  which  he  appears  to  have  been,  with  equal  facility,  a 
philosopher,  physician,  poet,  civilian,  divine,  humourist, 
&c.  To  this  work  he  has  prefixed  his  portrait,  engraved 
by  M.  Vander  Gucht ;  and  in  a  preface,  which  breathes  all 
the  pride  of  self-consequence,  informs  his  readers  he  does 
not  write  to  flatter,  or  for  hire.  As  a  specimen  of  this 
miscellaneous  farrago,  the  reader  may  take  the  following 
heads  of  subjects  :  1.  The  Funeral  of  Mankind,  a  paradox, 
proving  we  are  all  dead  and  buried.  2.  The  spiritual 
hedge-hog  ;  or,  a  new  and  surprising  thought.  3.  The 
double  life,  or  a  new  way  to  redeem  time,  by  living  over 
to-morrow  before  it  comes.  4.  Dunton  preaching  to  him- 
self; or  every  man  his  own  parson.  5.  His  creed,  or  the 
religion  of  a  bookseller,  in  imitation  of  Brown's  Religio 
Medici,  which  h.is  some  humour  and  merit.  This  he  de- 
dicated to  the  Stationers'  company.  As  a  satirist,  he  ap- 

1  Hume's  Hist,  of  England. — Dugdale's  Monasticon.—  Henry's  Hi«t.  of  Eng- 
land, vol.  III.— Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints. — Tanner. 


D  U  N  T  O  N.  491 

pears  to  most  advantage  in  his  poems  entitled  the  "  Beggar 
mounted  ;"  the  "  Dissenting  Doctors;"  "  Parnassus  hoa!" 
or  frolics  in  verse  ;  "  Dunton's  shadow,"  or  the  character 
of  a  summer  friend  ;  but  in  all  his  writings  he  is  exceed- 
ingly prolix  and  tedious,  and  sometimes  obscure.  His 
"  Case  is  altered,  or  Dunton's  remarriage  to  his  own  wife," 
has  some  singular  notions,  but  very  little  merit  in  the  compo- 
sition. For  further  particulars  of  this  heterogeneous  genius, 
see  "  Dunton's  Life  and  Errors,"  a  work  now  grown  some- 
what scarce,  or,  what  will  perhaps  be  more  satisfactory,  the 
account  of  him  in  our  authority.  Dunton  died  in  1733.1 

DU  PAN  (JAMES  MALLET),  a  political  writer  of  much 
note  in  France  and  England,  and  a  citizen  of  Geneva,  was 
born   in    1749,  of  an  ancient  family  in   Switzerland,  who 
had    been  distinguished    as  magistrates  and  scholars.     At 
the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  appointed,  through  the  in- 
terest of  Voltaire,    professor  of  belles-lettres  at  Cassel, 
and  about  that  time  he  published  two  or  three  historical 
tracts.     He  was  afterwards  concerned  with   Linguet  in  the 
publication  of   the  "  Annales  Politiques,"    at  Lausanne. 
In  1783  he  went  to  Paris,  where,   during  the  three  years' 
sitting  of  the  first  French  assembly,   he  published  an  ana- 
lysis of  their  debates,   which  was  read  throughout  all   Eu- 
rope,   and   considered    as  a  model  of   discussion    no  less 
luminous   than   impartial.      While   he   intrepidly  attacked 
the  various  factions,   he  neither  dissembled   the  faults  nor 
the  exaggerations  of  their  adversaries.     In  the  month  of 
April,    \192,  he  left  Paris  on  a  confidential  mission  from 
the  king  to  his  brothers,  and  the  emperor  of  Germany. 
In  consequence  of  his  quitting  Paris,  his  estate  in  France, 
and  his  personal  property,  were  confiscated  ;  and  among 
other  losses,  he  had  to  regret  that  of  a  valuable  library, 
and   a  collection  of   MSS.  including  a  work  of  his  own, 
nearly  ready  for  the  press,  on  the  political  state  of  Europe 
before  the  French  revolution.     Whilst  resident  at  Brussels 
with  the  archduke  Charles,  in  1793,  he  published  a  work 
on  the  French  revolution,  which  was  warmly  admired  by  Mr. 
Burke,  as  congenial  with  his  own  sentiments,  and  indeed  by 
every  other  person    not  influenced  by  the  delusions  which 
brought  about  that  great  event.   In  17i>4  he  returned  to  Swit- 
zerland, which  he  was  obliged  to  leave  in  17b»8,  the  French, 
to  whom  he  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious  by  his  writings, 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer,  vol.  V.  a  very  amusing  article. 


492  D   U       P   A  N. 

having  demanded  his  expulsion.  The  same  year  he  came 
to  England,  where  he  published  a  well-known  periodical 
journal  called  the  "  Mevcure  Britannique,"  which  came 
out  once  a  fortnight,  nearly  to  the  time  of  his  death.  This 
event  took  place  at  the  house  of  his  friend  count  Lally  Tol- 
lendal,  at  Richmond,  May  10,  1800.  His  "  Mercure," 
and  other  works,  although  of  a  temporary  nature,  contain 
facts,  and  profound  views  of  the  leading  events  of  his  time, 
which  will  be  of  great  importance  to  future  historians,  and 
during  publication  contributed  much  to  enlighten  the 
public  mind.1 

DU  PATY,  at  first  advocate-general,  and  afterwards 
president  u  mortier  in  the  parliament  of  Bourdeaux,  was 
born  at  Rochelle,  and  died  at  Paris  in  1788,  at  no  very 
advanced  age,  with  the  character  of  an  upright,  enlightened, 
and  eloquent  magistrate.  He  acquired  considerable  ho- 
nour, by  his  inflexible  constancy  in  the  revolution  of  the 
magistracy  in  1771,  and  still  more,  by  delivering  from 
punishment  three  poor  wretches  of  Chaumont,  condemned 
to  be  broke  alive  upon  the  wheel.  The  statement  he  pub- 
lished in  his  defence  does  credit  to  his  talents  and  hu- 
manity, which  may  likewise  be  said  of  his  "  Historical 
reflections  on  Penal  Laws."  The  president  Du  Paty  em- 
ployed himself  for  a  length  of  time  in  endeavouring  to 
reform  these  laws  ;  and  displayed  no  less  sagacity  than  zeal 
in  combating  the  obstacles  he  met  with  from  inveterate 
prejudices.  As  a  literary  man,  we  have  by  him,  "  Aca- 
demical Discourses,"  and  "Letters  on  Italy,"  1788,  2  vols. 
8vo,  of  which  last,  two  rival  translations  were  published  in 
this  country  in  the  same  year.  Yet,  although  he  shows 
himself  a  man  of  considerable  taste,  and  possessed  of  de- 
scriptive talents,  his  travels  are  frequently  disfigured  by 
emphatical  phrases,  and  by  attempts  at  wit,  savouring  of 
conceit  and  affectation.  It  was  his  misfortune  to  aim  at 
imitating  Diderot  and  Thomas,  who  furnished  him  with 
many  of  his  phrases.  His  adversaries  have  spread  abroad 
an  anecdote,  that  Voltaire,  being  asked  his  opinion  of  his 
abilities  as  a  magistrate,  answered,  "  He  is  a  good  scholar.'* 
And,  when  he  was  urged  to  give  his  sentiments  on  his  ta- 
lents for  literature  and  the  arts,  he  said,  "  He  is  a  good 
magistrate."  I 

1  Suppl.  volume  to  Lysom's  Environs. — Gent.  Mag.  1800. 

2  Diet.  Hist,  in  which  we  are  not  favoured  with  his  Christian  name,  an  omis- 
sion not  unfrequent  in  that  work. 


D  U  P  I  N.  493 

(LEWIS JELLIES),  an  eminent  ecclesiastical  his- 
torian of  the  last  century,  was  the  son  of  a  father  of  the 
same  names,  descended  of  a  noble  family  in  Normandy, 
by  Mary  Vitart,  of  a  family  in  Champagne.     He  was  born 
at  Paris,  June  17,  1657,  and  after  being  instructed  in  the 
rudiments  of  grammar  by  his  father,  and   private  tutors, 
was  entered,  at  the  age  of  ten,  of  the  college  of  Harcourt, 
where,  under  professor  Lair,  he  imbibed  that  thirst  for  ge- 
neral knowledge  which  he  indulged  during  the  whole  of 
his  studious  life.     In  1672  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of 
master  of  arts.     Having  made  choice  of  the  church  as  a 
profession,  he  went  through  the  usual  course  of  studies  at 
the  Soi bonne,  and  employed  much  of  his  time  in  perusing 
the  fathers  and  ecclesiastical  historians,  but  had  no  other 
view  in  this  than  to  gratify  his  curiosity,  while  preparing 
himself  for  his  licentiateship  in  divinity,  which  he  was  then 
too  young  to  obtain.     In    1680,  he   took   the   degree  of 
bachelor  of  divinity,  and  in  July  16S4,  that  of  doctor.    He 
soon  after  undertook  to  publish  the  work  which  has  made 
him  most  known,  his   Universal  Library  of  Ecclesiastical 
Writers,  containing  their  lives,  and  a  catalogue,  critical 
account,  and  analysis  of  their  works  :  a  design  of  vast  ex- 
tent, which  might  have  done  credit  to  the  labours  of  a  so- 
ciety, yet  was  successfully  accomplished  by  an  individual, 
who  was  not  only  interrupted  by  professional  duties,  but 
wrote  and  published  a  great  many  other  works.     The  first 
volume  of  his  "  Bibliotheque"  was  printed  at  Paris,   1686, 
8vo,  and  the  others  in  succession  as  far  as  live  volumes, 
which  contained  an  account  of  the  first  eight  centuries. 
The  freedom,  however,  which  he  had  used  in  criticising 
the  style,  character,  and  doctrines  of  some  of  the  eccle- 
siastical writers,  roused  the  prejudices  of  the  celebrated 
Bossuet,  who  exhibited  a  complaint  against  Dupin  to  Har- 
lay,    archbishop   of  Paris.     The  archbishop   accordingly, 
in  1693,  published  a  decree  against  the  work,  yet  with 
more  deliberation  than  might  have  been  expected.     His 
grace  first  ordered  the  work  to  be  read  by  four  doctors  of 
divinity  of  the  faculty  of  Paris,  who  perused  it  separately, 
and  then  combining  their  remarks,  drew  up  a  report  which 
they  presented  to  the  archbishop,  who,  in  his  decree,  says 
that  he  also  examined  the  work,  and  found  that  it  would  be 
very  prejudicial  to  the  church,  if  it   were  suffered  to  be 
dispersed.     Dupin   was  then  summoned  before  the  arch- 
bishop and  .the  doctors,  and  after  several  meetings,  gave 


494  D   U  P   I  N. 

in  a  paper,  in  which  he  delivered  his  opinion  on  the  objec- 
tions made  to  his  hook  in  such  a  manner  as  to  satisfy  them 
that,    however    liberal    his    expressions,    he    was    himself 
sound  ;    but  the  work  itself  they  nevertheless  thought  must 
be  condemned,  as  "  containing  several   propositions  that 
are  false,  rash,  scandalous,  capable  of  offending  pious  ears, 
tending  to  weaken  the  arguments,  xvhich  are  brought  from 
tradition  to  prove  the  authority  of  the  canonical  books  of 
holy  scripture,  and  of  several  other  articles  of  faith,  inju- 
rious to  general  councils,  to  the  holy  apostolic  see,  and  to 
the  fathers  of  the  church ;  erroneous,  and  leading  to  heresy." 
This  sentence  upon   the  work,   however,  will  prove  its 
highest  recommendation  to  the  protestant  reader,  who  will 
probably,   as  he  may  very  justly  infer,  that  it  means   no 
more  than  that  Dupin  was  too  impartial  and  candid  for  his 
judges.      With   the   above   decree   was  published   Dupin's 
retractation,  both  of  which  were  translated  and  printed  at 
London  in    1703,   folio,  by  William   Wotton,    B.  D.   who 
observes  that  in  Dupin's  retractation,  "  dread  of  farther 
mischief  seems  to  be  far  more  visible,  in  almost  every  ar- 
ticle, than  real  conviction  arising  from  an  inward  sense  of 
the  author's  having  been  in  an  error;   at  least,  that  it  is  so 
written,  as  to  have  that  appearance."     Dupin,   however, 
went  on  with  his  work,  and  by  some  means  obtained  a  per- 
mission to  print,  with  some  small  alteration   in  the  title, 
from  "Bibliotheque  universelle"to  "Bibliotheque  nouvelle," 
and  the  addition  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  to  the  eccle- 
siastical  biography.     He  thus  went   on,  concluding  with 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  whole  making 
47  vols.  8vo,  which  were  reprinted  at  Amsterdam,   in  19 
vols.  4to  ;  but  as  most  of  these  volumes  were  printed  from 
the  first  editions,   this  edition   is  imperfect.     It  was  also 
begun  to  be  translated  into  Lathy,  and  the  first  three  vo- 
lumes printed  at  Amsterdam  ;  but  no  farther  progress  was 
made.     Monsieur  Dupin  was  engaged  at  his  death  in  a 
Latin  translation,  to  which  he  intended  to  make  consider- 
able additions.     This  Bibliotheque  was  likewise  translated 
into  English,  and  printed  at  London  in  several  volumes  in 
folio,  usually  bound  in  seven.     A  much  finer  edition  was 
printed   in    3  vols.  folio,    by   Grierson  of  Dublin.      The 
translation  appears  to  have  been  executed  partly  by  Digby 
Cotes,  and  revised  by  Wotton.     Dupin's  Bibliotheque  was 
attacked  by  M.  .Simon  in  a  book  printed  at   Paris  in  1730, 
in  four  volumes  8vo,  under  the  following  title  :  "  Critique 


D  U  P  I  N.  495 

cle  la  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Ecclesiastiques  &  de  Pro- 
legomenes  de  la  Bible  publiez  par  M.  Elies  Dupin.  Avec 
des  eclaircissemens  &  des  supplemens  aux  endroits,  ou 
on  les  a  juge  necessaires,  par  feu  M.  Richard  Simon,  avec 
des  remarques."  Simon  has  pointed  out  a  considerable 
number  of  errors  in  Dupin,  but  when  all  deductions  of  this 
kind  are  made,  it  must  be  allowed  that  we  have  no  book 
more  generally  valuable  as  a  repository  of  ecclesiastical 
history  and  biography,  making  allowance  for  the  author's 
attachment  to  the  principles  of  his  church. 

In  addition  to  Dupin's  other  literary  labours,  he  was 
commissary  in  most  of  the  affairs  of  the  faculty  of  theology, 
was  professor  of  divinity  in  the  royal  college,  and  for  many 
years  editor  of  the  "Journal  des  Scavans,"  carried  on  an 
extensive  correspondence  with  learned  men,  and  was  often 
requested  to  prepare  editions  of  works  for  the  press,  and  to 
write  prefaces.  Yet  notwithstanding  all  this,  and  his  more 
urgent  labours  in  preparing  his  own  works,  we  are  told 
that  he  divided  his  time  judiciously,  and  had  leisure  to  visit 
and  receive  the  visits  of  his  friends  or  strangers,  whom  he 
entertained  with  as  much  apparent  ease  as  if  his  time  was 
wholly  unoccupied.  His  openness  of  temper,  however, 
and  the  general  impartiality  of  his  works,  procured  him 
many  enemies,  whom  the  celebrated  "  Case  of  Conscience'* 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  bringing  him  into  fresh  trouble. 
This  "  Case  of  Conscience"  was  a  paper  signed  by  forty 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  in  1702,  the  purport  of  which 
allows  some  latitude  of  opinion  with  respect  to  the  senti- 
ments of  the  Jansenists.  It  occasioned  a  controversy  of 
some  length  in  France,  and  most  of  those  who  signed  it 
were  censured  or  punished.  Dupin,  in  particular,  was  not 
only  deprived  of  his  professorship,  but  banished  to  Cha- 
tellerault,  which  last  gave  him  most  uneasiness,  as  it  re- 
moved him  from  the  seat  of  learning,  and  the  company  of 
learned  men,  always  so  delightful  to  him,  and  so  necessary 
to  the  pursuit  of  his  studies.  At  length  he  was  induced  to 
withdraw  his  subscription,  and  by  the  interest  of  some 
friends,  was  permitted  to  return  ;  but  his  professorship 
was  not  restored  to  him.  After  he  resumed  his  studies  at 
Paris,  he  published  many  of  those  works  of  which  we  are 
about  to  give  a  catalogue,  all  of  which  had  a.  quick  and 
extensive  sale,  although  many  of  them  prove  that  his  ac- 
curacy was  not  equal  to  his  diligence,  and  that  by  con- 
fining himself  to  fewer  subjects,  he  would  have  better  con- 


496  D  U  P  I  N. 

suited  his  reputation.     It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged 
that  he  possessed  considerable  taste,  great  freedom  from 
common  prejudices,    a   clear  and  methodical  head,    and 
most  extensive  reading.      He  corresponded  with  eminent 
men  of  different  communions,  and  was  much  censured  and 
threatened  for  a  correspondence  he  carried  on  with  arch- 
bishop   Wake,    respecting  the  union   of  the  churches  of 
Rome  and  England.     Dupin  and  some  other  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne   were    the   first   movers   of  this    plan,    although 
Mosheim,  in  his  first  edition,  has  represented  Dr.  Wake  as 
offering  the  first  proposals.  This  matter,  however,  is  placed 
in  a  more  clear  light  in  the  last  edition  of  Mosheim,  edited 
by  Dr.  Coote  (1811)  in  the  Appendix  to  which  (No.  IV.) 
the  reader  will   find  the  whole  correspondence,  and  pro- 
bably be  of  opinion  that  while  we  admire  the  archbishop's 
firmness  and  caution  in  stipulating  for  an  emancipation  from 
the  papal  yoke  as  a  sine  qua  non,  we  have  equal  reason  to 
admire  the  candour  of  Dupin  in  his  review  of  the  XXXIX 
Articles,  and  in  the  advances  he  endeavours  to  make  to 
protestant  sentiments.     The  czar  of  Muscovy,  we  are  also 
told,  consulted  Dupin  on  an  union  with  the  Greek  church. 
Dupin  was  an   eager  opponent  of  the  constitution  styled 
Unigenitus,  and  was  the  great  leader  of  the  opposition  to 
it  in  the  Sorbonne,  the  deputations,  commissions,  and  me- 
morials,   all  passing  through  his  hands.     At  length,  ex- 
hausted  by  his  uninterrupted  labours,  and  by  a  regimen 
too  strict  for  health,   he  died  June  6,  1719,  in   his  sixty- 
second  year.     It  is  said  that,  while  he  was  in  his  last  sick- 
ness, father  Courayer  of  St.  Genevieve  came  to  see  him 
with  another  of  his  brethren.     Dupin  began  the  conversa- 
tion at  first  with  mentioning  the  criticism,  which  had  been 
published  in  the  "  Europe  Savante,"  upon  the  first  volume 
of  his  "  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  separez  de  la  Commu- 
nion Romaine,"  and  spoke  of  it  with   great  severity,  not 
knowing  that  Courayer  was  the  author  of  it.  These  fathers 
then  went  up  to  the  chamber  of  Le  Cointe,  who  had  written 
in  conjunction  with  Dupin,   and  was  author  of  the  answer 
to   that  criticism,   which  had  been  erroneously  ascribed  to 
Dupin  himself.     Le  Cointe,  who  likewise  knew  not  that 
Courayer  was  their  antagonist,  began  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject, and  told  them,  that  if  he  lived,  he  would  never  desist 
from  writing  against  those  who  had  attacked  Dupin,  whom  he 
styled  his  dear  master ;  and  though  he  had  but  a  very  small 
estate,  would  at  his  death  leave  money  for  a  foundation  tp 


DUPIN.  -  497 

support  those  who  should  defend  his  memory ;  but  Le  Cointe 
died  about  fifteen  days  after,  without  performing  his  pro- 
mise. 

Dupin's  works,  besides  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  were* 
l."De  antiqua  Ecclesiee  Disciplina,  dissertationes  his- 
toricge,"  Paris,  1686,  4to  ;  the  best  edition,  as  some  im- 
portant passages  were  omitted  in  the  subsequent  ones.  2. 
"  Liber  Psalmorumcum  notis,"  ibid.  1691,  8vo.  3.  A  French 
translation  of  the  preceding,  ibid,  same  year,  and  in. 17.10. 
4.  "  La  juste  Defense  du  Sieur  Dupin,  -pour  sefvir  de  re- 
ponse  a  un  Libelle  anonyme  contre  Les  Pseaumes,"  Co- 
logne, 1693,  4to.  5.  "  S.Optati  de  Schismate  Donatistarum, 
libri  Septem,  ad  MSS.  codices  et  veteres  editiones  collati," 
Paris,  1700,  fol.  6.  "  Notas  in  Pentateuchem,"  ibid.  1710, 
2  vols.  8vo  ;  short  notes  like  those  he  wrote  on  the  Psalms. 
7.  "  Defense  de  la  Censure  de  la  Facultie  de  Theologie  de 
Paris,  contre  les  Memoires  de  la  Chine,"  ibid.  1701,  8 vO. 
This  is  a  defence  of  the  censure  of  the  Sorbonne  against 
Le  Compte's  "  Memoires  de  la  Chine."  8.  A  preface  to 
Arnaud's  work  "  De  la  necessite  de  la  Foi  en  Jesus  Christ, 
&c."  1701,  2  vols.  8vo.  9.  "  Dialogues  posthumes  du 
Sieur  de  la  Bruyeresur  le  Quietisme,"  Paris,  1699,  12mo. 
Seven  of  these  dialogues  are  by  Bruyere,  and  two  by  Du- 
pin, which  are  not  inferior  to  the  former  in  style  and  man- 
ner. 10.  "  Traite  de  la  Doctrine  Chretienne  et  orthodox," 
ibid.  1703,  8vo  ;  containing  the  preliminary  matter  to  a 
body  of  divinity,  which  he  did  not  complete.  11.  An 
edition  of  the  "  Opera  Gersoni,"  1703,  Amst.  5  vols.  fol. 
which,  Dupin  says,  would  have  been  more  correct  had  it 
been  printed  under  his  inspection.  10.  "  Histoire  d'Apol- 
lone  de  Tyane  convaincue  de  faussete"  et  d'imposture," 
Paris,  1705,  12mo,  which  Dupin  published  under  the 
name  of  De  Claireval.  13.  "  Traite  de  la  puissance  eccle- 
siastique  ettemporelle,"  ibid.  1707,  Svo.  14.  "  Bibliotheque 
Universelle  des  Historiens,"  ibid.  1707,  2  vols.  Svo.  Dupin 
did  not  proceed  far  in  this  undertaking,  but  these  two 
volumes  were  translated  and  printed  at  London,  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Universal  Library  of  Historians,"  1709.  15. 
"  Lettre  sur  1'ancienne  discipline  de  TEglise  touchant  la 
celebradoH  de  la  Messe."  Paris,  1708,  12mo.  16.  "  His- 
toire des  Juifs,"  &c.  Paris,  7  vcrfs.  12mo.  This  is,  in  fact, 
Basnage's  History  of  the  Jews,  with  alterations,  and  as 
Dupin  omitted  Basnage's  name,  the  latter  complained,  and 
asserted  his  property.  It  is  rather  surprising  Dupin  should 

VOL.  XII.  K  K 


498  I)  U  P  I  K. 

have  committed  such  a  breach  of  decorum.  17.  t(  Disser-1 
tations  historiques,  chronologiques,  et  critiques  sur  la  Bi- 
ble," vol.  I.  ibid.  1711,  8vo.  These  relate  only  to  the 
book  of  Genesis,  and  were  not  continued.  18.  "  Histoire 
de  TEglise  en  abrege,"  ibid.  1714,  4  vols.  4to.  This, 
although  highly  praised  by  the  writers  of  the  Journal  de 
Trevoux,  is  in  the  objectionable  form  of  question  and  an- 
swer. A  translation  was  made  of  it  into  Italian,  suppress- 
ing Dupin's  name,  which  was  not  very  popular  at  Rome, 
and  substituting  that  of  Salvaggio  Canturani.  19.  "His- 
toire prdfane  depuis  son  commencement  jusqu'a  present,'* 
Paris,  1714 — 1716,  6  vols.  12mo;  reprinted  most  incor- 
rectly at  Antwerp,  17 17,  6  vols.  12rno.  20.  "Analyse 
|3e  1'Apocalypse,"  Paris,  1714,  2  vols.  12mo.  21.  "Traite" 
historique  des  Excommunications,"  ibid,  1715,  12mo.  22. 
"  Methode  pour  etudier  la  Theologie,"  ibid.  1716,  12mo. 
33.  "  Denonciadon  a  M.  le  Procureur  General,  &c."  re- 
specting the  constitution  Unigenitus,  12mo.  24.  "  De- 
fense de  la  monarchic  de  Sicile  contre  les  enterprises  de 
la  cour  de  Rome,"  Amst.  (Lyons)  1716,  8vo,  and  Amst. 
same  year,  12mo.  25.  "  Traite  philosophique  et  theolo- 
gique  sur  1'amour  de  Dieu,"  Paris,  1717,  12mo.  26. 
"  Continuation  du  Traite  de  1'amour  de  Dieu,  &c."  ibid. 
3717,  8vo.  27.  "  Bibliotheque  des  auteurs  separez  de  la 
communion  Romaine  de  XVI  et  XVII  siecle,"  ibicl.  1718, 
4  vols.  8vo.  The  author,  we  have  seen,  was  offended  with 
the  character  given  of  this  work  in  the  journal  called 
"  Europe  Savante,"  and  returned  a  sharp  answer.  Be- 
sides these  works,  Dupin  was  employed  in  the  earlier 
editions  of  Moreri's  Dictionary,  and  frequently,  as  we 
have  already  remarked,  contributed  to  new  editions  of 
valuable  works. 1 

DUPLEIX  (JOSEPH),  a  famous  French  merchant,  the 
rival  of  La  Bourdonnaye  in  the  Indies,  equally  active  and 
more  reflective,  was  sent  into  those  far  distant  countries,  in 
1730,  as  director  of  the  colony  of  Chandernagore,  which 
was  verging  to  decay  for  want  of  capital.  Dupleix  re- 
stored it  to  life  and  vigour,  and  extended  the  commerce 
of  that  colony  through  all  the  provinces  of  the  mogul,  and 
quite  to  Thibet.  He  fitted  out  ships  for  the  Red  Sea,  for 
Jhe  Persian  Gulf,  for  Goa,  for  the  Maldives,  and  for  Ma- 

1  Niceron,  vol.  II.  and  X. — Moreri,  in  Pin. — Gen.  Diet,  in  Pin. — Chaufepie. 
—Saxii  OBomast,-— Mosheim's  Eccl.  Hist.  edit.  1811. 


D  U  P  L  E  I  X.  49*. 

nilla.     He  built  a  town  and  formed  a  vast  establishment. 
His  zeal  and  his  intelligence  were  recompensed,  in  1742, 
by  the  government  of  Pondicherry.     In  1746  La  Bourdon- 
naye  made  himself  master  of  Madras,  the  place  having 
capitulated,  when  Dupleix,  secretly  jealous  of  his  success, 
broke  the  capitulation,  took  the  command  of  his  vessels, 
was  even  disposed  to  put  him  under  an  arrest,  and  sent 
such  representations  to  the  court  of  France  as  occasioned 
La  Bourdonnaye  to  be  committed  to  the  Bastille  on  his 
arrival  at  Paris.     In  1748,  when  the  English  attacked  Pon- 
dicherry, Dupleix  defended  it  for  forty-two  days  of  bom- 
bardment against  two  English  admirals,  supported  by  two 
nabobs  of  the  country.     He  acted  in  the  several  capacities 
of  general,  of  engineer,  and  commissary,  and  was  rewarded 
with  the  red  ribbon  and  the  title  of  marquis,  as  the  recom- 
pense of  this  gallant  defence,  which  for  a  time  restored  the 
French  name  in  India.    This  was  followed,  two  years  after, 
by  a  patent  of  the  title  of  nabob  from  the  grand  mogul,  on 
his  acquiring  possession  of  the  Decan  for  Salabetingue;  and 
the  Indians,  on  many  occasions,  treated  him  as  king,  and 
his  wife  as  queen  ;  but  this  prosperity  was  not  of  long  du- 
ration.    In  1751  two  pretenders  arose  to  the  nabobship  of 
Arcot,  and   the   English   favoured  the  rival  of  the  nabob 
that  was  supported  by  the  French,  and  the  two  companies, 
English  and  French,  engaged  in  actual  war;  the  success  of 
which  was  by  no  means  in  favour  of  the  latter,  who  were; 
dispossessed  of  their  territories  by  generals  Lawrence  and 
Clive.     Remonstrances  were  sent  over  against  Dupleix,  as 
he   had  before  preferred  complaints  against  La  Bourdon- 
naye  :  an  instance  of  the  equal  balance  held  by  Providence 
over  the  affairs  of  mortals.     Dupleix   was  accordingly  re- 
called  in  1753,  and  arrived  at  Paris  in  a  desponding  state, 
He  commenced  a  suit  at  law  against  the  company  for  the 
reimbursement  of  millions  of  livres  that  were  due  to  him, 
which  the  company  contested,  and  could  not  have  paid  if 
the  debt  bad  been  established.    He  published  a  long  state- 
ment of  the  c;ise,  which  was  read  with  avidity  at  the  time ; 
and   died  soon  after,  a  victim  to  mortified  pri4e  and  am- 
bition. l 

DUPLEIX  (SciPio),  a  French  historian,  was  born  at 
Condom  in  1569,  of  a  noble  family  originally  from  Lan- 
guedoc.  His  father  had  served  with  distinction  under 

»  Diet.  Hist. 
K  K   2 


500  D  U  P  L  E  I  X. 

jnarshal  df  Montluc.     Scipio  having  attracted    notice  at 
the  court  of  queen  Margaret,  then  at  Nerac,  came  to  Paris 
in  1605   with  that  princess,  who  afterwards  made  him  her 
master  of  requests.     His  next  appointment  was  to  the  post 
of  historiographer  of  France,  and  he  employed  himself  for 
a  long  time  on  the  history  of  that  kingdom.     In  his  old 
age  he  compiled  a  work  on  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican. 
church ;  but  the  chancellor    Seguier   having   caused  the 
manuscript,  for  which  he  came  to  apply  for  a  privilege,  to 
be  burnt  before  his  face,  he  died  of  vexation   not   long 
after,  at  Condom,  in  1661,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  the 
greater  part  of  which  time  he  had  passed  without  sicknesses 
or  infirmities.     The  principal  of  his  works  are,    1.  "  Me- 
moirs of  the  Gauls,"    1650,  folio,  forming  the  first  part  of 
his  History  of  France,  a  work  much  valued  for  its  informa- 
tion, but  ill  written.     2.  "  History  of  France,"   in  5,  after- 
wards in  6  vols.  fol.     The  narration  of  Dupleix  is  unplea- 
sant, as  well  from  the  language  having  become  obsolete, 
as  from  his   frequent   antitheses  and  puerile  attempts   at 
wit.     Cardinal  Richelieu  is  much  flattered  by  the  author, 
because   he  was  living  at  the  time;  and  queen  Margaret, 
though  his  benefactress,  is  described  like  a  Messalina,  be- 
cause she  was  dead,  and  the  author  had  nothing  farther  to 
expect  from   her.     Matthew    de   Morgues,    and    marshal 
Bassompierre  both  convicted  him  of  ignorance  and  insin- 
cerity.    Dupleix  endeavoured  to  answer  them,  and  after 
the  death  of  the  cardinal  he  wished  to  recompose  a  part  of 
his  history,  but  was  presented  by  declining  age.     3.  "  Ro- 
man History,"  3  vols.  fol.  an  enormous  mass,  without  spirit 
or  life.     4.  "A  course  of  Philosophy,"   3  vols.    12mo.    5. 
"  Natural  Curiosity  reduced  to  questions,"  Lyons,  1 620, 8vo, 
publications  of  which  very  little  can  be-said  in  their  praise. 
His  "  Liberte  de  la  Langue  Francaise,"  against  Vaugelas, 
does  him  still  less  credit ;  and  upon  the  whole  he  appears 
to  be  one  of  those  authors  whose  fame  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  revive,  or  perhaps  to  account  for.  1 

DUPORT  (JAMES),  D.  D.  a  learned  Greek  scholar, 
was  born  in  1606,  in  Jesus  college,  Cambridge,  of  which 
college  his  father  was  master  from  1590  to  1617  ;  and,  after 
a  classical  education  at  Westminster,  was  admitted  in 
1622,  of  Trinity  college  in  that  university,  under  the  tui- 
tion of  Dr.  Robert  Hitch,  afterwards  dean  of  York,  to  whom 

l  Moreri. — Nicercm,  rol.  II.  an4  X. — Bai 


D  U  P  O  R  T.  50) 

he  gratefully  addressed  a  Latin  poem  in  his  "  Sylvse," 
where  he  calls  him  "  tutorem  suurn  colendissimum."  He 
regularly  became  a  fellow  of  his  college  ;  and  his  know- 
ledge of  Greek  was  so  extensive,  that  he  was  appointed 
regius  professor  of  that  language  at  Cambridge  in  1632-.' 
He  was  collated  to  the  prebend  of  Langford  Ecclesia,  in 
the  cathedral  of  Lincoln,  Aug.  14,  1641  ;  and  to  the  arch- 
deaconry of  Stow  in  that  diocese,  Sept.  13  of  that  year, 
being  then  B.  D. ;  and  on  the  13th  of  November  in  the 
same  year  exchanged  his  prebend  for  that  of  Leighton 
Buzzard  in  the  same  cathedral ;  but  in  1656  he  was  ejected 
from  his  professorship  at  Cambridge,  for  refusing  the  en- 
gagement. On  the  20th  of  May,  1660,  on  the  eve  of  the 
restoration,  he  preached  a  sermon  at  St.  Paul's  cathedral ; 
and  his  loyalty  on  that  occasion  was  rewarded  by  an  ap- 
pointment to  the  office  of  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  Charles  II. 
He  was  also  restored  to  the  professorship  ;  which  he  re- 
signed the  same  year  in  favour  of  Dr.  Barrow ;  and  on  the 
5th  of  September  following  he  was,  by  royal  mandate,  with 
many  other  learned  divines,  created  D.  D.  He  was  in- 
stalled dean  of  Peterborough  July  27,  1664,  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Towers,  prebendary  ;  and  elected  master  of  Magda- 
len college,  Cambridge,  1668.  When  he  obtained  the 
rectories  of  Aston  Flamvile  and  Burbach,  we  cannot  exactly 
say;  but  it  was  probably  in  1672,  and  owing  to  the  patronage 
of  Anthony  the  eleventh  earl  of  Kent.  In  167G,  he  preached 
three  different  sermons  upon  public  occasions,  all  which 
were  printed,  Jan.  30,  May  29,  and  Nov.  5.  He  died 
July  17,  1679,  and  was  buried  in  Peterborough  cathedral, 
to  which,  and  to  the  school  there,  he  had  been  a  consider- 
able benefactor.  Against  a  pillar  on  the  north  side  of  the 
choir,  behind  the  pulpit,  is  a  handsome  white  marble  tablet, 
with  his  arms  and  a  Latin  inscription  commemorating  his 
learning  and  virtues. 

Dr.  Duport  left  behind  him  several  learned  works,  among 
which  his  "  Gnomologia  Homeri,"  1660,  shews  his  exten- 
sive reading,  and  great  knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue,, 
and  was  then  deemed  very  useful  for  the  understanding  of 
that  poet.  His  other  works  are,  1.  "  Tres  Libri  Solo- 
monis,  scilicet  Proverbia,  Ecclesiastes,  Cantica,  Graco 
Carmine  donati,  1646,"  12mo.  2.  "  Metaphrasis  libri 
Psalmorum  versibus  Graecis  contexta  cum  versione  Lat. 
Cantabr.  1666,"  4to,  a  work  very  honourably  mentioned 
by  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  in  his  "  Bibliotheca  Grteca,"  and  in 


502  D  U  P  O  R  T. 

Tillotson's  Life  by  Birch.  3.  "  Musae  Subsecivae,  sen 
Poetica  Stromata,"  1676,  8vo.  This  volume  consists  of 
three  books  of  miscellany  poems,  under  the  title  of 
"  Sylvae,"  "  Carmina  Gratulatoria  ad  Regemet  Reginam," 
*'  Epicedia,  seu  Carmina  Funebria,"  *'  Carmina  Comitialia, 
seu  Epigrammata  in  Comitiis  Academicis  composita," 
"  Epigrammata  Sacra,"  and  "  Epithalamia  Sacra." 

In  1712,  when  Theophrastus's  Characters  were  pub- 
lished by  Needham,  there  were  printed  along  with  them 
some  lectures  of  professor  Duport  upon  the  first  sixteen 
characters,  excepting  the  fifth.  These  lectures  had  lain 
in  the  celebrated  library  of  Moore  bishop  of  Ely  for  many 
years,  and  were  at  first  supposed  to  have  been  written  by 
Stanley,  who  wrote  the  lives  of  the  Greek  philosophers  ; 
but,  upon  their  being  communicated,  they  were  recog- 
nized as  part  of  what  professor  Duport*  had  read  to  his 
pupils  at  Cambridge  during  the  rebellion.1 

DUPORT  (JOHN),  whether  an  ancestor  of  the  pre- 
ceding, does  not  appear,  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Duport 
of  Shepshed  in  Leicestershire,  esq.  became  fellow  of  Jesus 
college,  and  was  one  of  the  university  proctors  in  1580,  in 
which  year  he  was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  Harleton  in 
Cambridgeshire,  and  afterwards  became  rector  of  Bos- 
worth  and  Medbourne  in  his  native  county  of  Leicester. 
In  1583,  Dec.  24,  he  was  collated  to  the  rectory  of  Ful- 
bam  in  Middlesex,  which  Mr.  Bentham  calls  a  sinecure, 
and  ^ucceeded  Henry  Hervey,  LL. D.  April  29,  1585,  in 
the  precentorship  of  St.  Paul's,  London  ;  became  master 
of  Jesus  college,  Cambridge,  in  1590  ;  was  four  times 
elected  vice-chancellor  of  the  university,  and  in  1 609  was 
made  a  prebendary  of  Ely.  He  died  about,  or  soon  after 
Christinas,  1617,  and  deserves  this  brief  notice  here,  as 
being  one  of  the  learned  men  employed  by  king  James  I. 
in  translating  the  Bible.  2 

DUPPA  (BRIAN),  a  learned  English  bishop,  was  born 
at  Lewisham  in  Kent,  of  which  place  his  father  was  then 
vicar.  He  was  baptized  there  March  18,  1588-9,  was 

*  "  The  Greek  and  Latin  puns  to  words.     He  used  to  call  his  two  maids 

be  found  in  these  lectures  are  sufficient  his   Janissaries,  because  their  names 

to  show  that  Dr.  Dnport  was  the  author  were  Jenny  and  Sarah."     Memoirs  of 

of  them,    for  it  is   well    known  that  Literature,  vol.  IX.  p.  156. 
learned  professor  loved  to  play  upon 

i  Nichols's  Hist,  of  Leicestershire,  vol.  IV.  Part  II. 
«  Bentham 's  Hist,  of  Ely. 


D  U  P  P  A.  503 

educated  at  Westminster  school,  and  thence  elected  stu- 
dent of  Christ  church,  Oxford,  in  1605.  In  1612  he  was 
chosen  fellow  of  All  Souls'  college  ;  then  went  into  orders, 
and  travelled  abroad ;  particularly  into  France  and  Spain. 
In  July  1625  he  took  the  degree  of  doctor  in  divinity  ;  and 
by  the  interest  and  recommendation  of  the  earl  of  Dorset, 
to  whom  he  afterwards  became  chaplain,  was  appointed 
dean  of  Christ  church,  Oxford,  in  June  1629.  In  1634 
he  was  constituted  chancellor  of  the  church  of  Sarum,  and 
soon  after  made  chaplain  to  Charles  I.  He  was  appointed, 
in  1638,  tutor  to  Charles  prince  of  Wales,  and  afterwards 
to  his  brother  the  duke  of  York  ;  and  about  the  same  time 
nominated  to  the  bishopric  of  Chichester.  In  1641  he  was 
translated  ro  the  see  of  Salisbury,  but  received  no  benefit 
from  it,  on  account  of  the  suppression  of  episcopacy.  On 
this  event  he  repaired  to  the  king  at  Oxford ;  and,  after 
that  city  \\as  surrendered,  attended  him  in  other  places, 
particularly  during  his  imprisonment  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 
He  was  a  great  favourite  with  his  majesty  ;  and  is  said  by 
some  to  have  assisted  him  in  composing  the  "  Eikon  Ba- 
silike." 

After  the  king's  death,  he  retired  to  Richmond  in  Surrey, 
where  he  lived  a  solitary  life  till  the  restoration,  when  he 
was  translated  to  the  bishopric  of  Winchester,  and  also 
made  lord  almoner.  About  1661  he  began  an  alms-house 
at  Richmond,  which  he  endowed  with  a  farm  at  Shepper- 
ton,  for  which  he  gave  1540/.  which  now  produces  1 15/.  per 
annum  ;  and  though  he  did  not  live  to  finish  it,  yet  it  was 
finished  by  his  appointment,  and  at  his  expence.  This 
house  is  of  brick,  and  stands  on  the  hill  above  Richmond, 
and  took  its  rise  from  a  vow  made  by  him  in  the  time  of 
the  king's  exile.  On  the  gate  is  this  inscription  ;  "  I  will 
pay  my  vows  which  I  made  to  God  in  my  trouble."  The 
bishop  had  a  more  than  ordinary  affection  for  Richmond, 
not  only  because  he  had  resided  there  several  years  during 
the  absence  of  the  royal  family,  but  also  because  he  had 
educated  the  prince  in  that  place.  He  had  designed  some 
other  works  of  piety  and  charity,  but  was  prevented  by 
death  ;  for  he  enjoyed  his  new  dignity  little  more  than  a 
year  and  a  half,  dying  at  Richmond  in  1662,  aged  seventy- 
three.  A  few  hours  before  he  expired,  Charles  II.  ho- 
noured him  with  a  visit;  and,  kneeling  down  by  the  bed- 
side, begged  his  blessing;  which. the  bishop,  with  one' 


30*.  D  U  P  P  A. 

hand  on  his  majesty's  head>  and  the  other  lifted  up  to 
heaven,  gave  with  great  zeal.  He  was  buried  in  Westmin- 
ster-abbey, on  the  north  side  of  the  Confessor's  chapel ; 
vfhere  a  large  marble  stone  was  laid  over  his  grave,  with 
only  these  Latin  words  engraved  upon  it  :  "  Hie  jacet 
Brianus  Winton." 

By  his  will  he  bequeathed   several  sums  of  money  to 
charitable  uses  ;  particularly  lands  in  Pembridge,  in  Here- 
fordshire,   which   cost  250/.    settled  upon  an    alms-house 
there  begun  by  his  father  ;   500/.  to  be  paid  to  the  bishop 
of  Sarum,  to  be  bestowed  upon  an  organ  in  that  church, 
or  such  other  use  as  the  bishop  shall  think  fittest ;   500/.  to 
the  dean  and  chapter  of  Christ-church,  in  Oxford,  towards 
the  new  buildings  ;  200/.  to  be  bestowed  on  the  cathedral 
church  of  Chichester,  as  the  bishop  and  dean  and  chapter 
shall  think   fit ;    200/.  to  the    cathedral  church  at  Win- 
chester ;  40l.  to  the  poor  of  Lewisham,  in  Kent,  where 
lie  was  born  ;  40/.  to  the  poor  of  Greenwich  ;  20l.  to  the 
poor  of  Westham,  in  Sussex,    and  20/.  more  to   provide 
communion-plate  in  that  parish,  if  they  want  it,  otherwise 
that  20l.  also  to  the  poor ;  20/.  to  the  poor  of  Witham,  in 
Sussex  ;   10/.  per  annum  for  ten  years  to  William  Watts, 
to  encourage  him  to  continue  in  his  studies ;  50/.  a-piece 
to  ten  widows  of  clergyman  ;  50l.  a-piece  to  ten  loyal  of- 
ficers not  yet  provided  for ;  200/.  to  All-souls'  college,  in 
Oxford ;  300/.  to  the  repair  of  St.  Paul's  cathedral ;  and 
above  3000/.  in  several  sums   to  private  friends  and  ser- 
vants !  so  that  the  character  given  of  him  by  Burnet,  who 
represents  him  as  not  having  made  that  use  of  his  wealth 
that  was  expected,  is  not  just.     He  wrote  and  published  a 
few  pieces  :  as,  1.  "The  soul's  soliloquies,  and  conference 
with  conscience  ;"    a   sermon  before  Charles  I.  at  New- 
port, in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  on  Oct.  25,  being  the  monthly 
fast,   1648,  4to.      2.    "  Angels  rejoicing  for  Sinners  re- 
penting;" a  sermon  on  Luke  xv.   10,    1648,  4to.     3.   "A 
guide  for  the  penitent,    or,    a  model  drawn  up  for  the 
help  of  a  devout  soul  wounded  with  sin,"   1660,  Svo.     4. 
*'  Holy  rules  and  helps  to  devotion,  both  in  prayer  and 
practice,  in  two  parts,"    1674,   12mo,    with   the  author's 
picture  in  the  beginning.    This  was  published  by  Benjamin 
Parry,  of  Corpus  Christi  college,  in  Oxford.     The  life  of 
archbishop    Spotsvvood   is  likewise  said  by  some  to  have 
been  written  by  bishop  Duppa ;  but,  as  Wood  justly  ob- 


D  U  PR  A  T. 

serves,  that  could  not  be,  because  it  was  written  by  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland.1 

DUPRAT   (ANTHONY),    a   celebrated  French  cardinal, 
sprung  of  a  noble  family  of  Issoire,  in  Auvergne,  appeared 
first  at  the  bar  of  Paris.      lie  was  afterwards  made   lieu-» 
tenant-general  of  the  bailiwic  of  JMontferrant,   then   attoiv 
ney-general  at  the  parliament  of  Toulouse.     Rising  from 
one  post  to  another,   he  came  to  be  first  president  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris  in  1507,  and  chancellor  of  France  in 
1515.      He  set  out,  it  is  said,   by  being  solicitor  at  Cognac 
for  the  countess  of  Angouleme,  mother  of  Francis  I.     This 
princess  entrusted  to  him  the  education  of  her  son,  whose 
confidence  he  happily  gained.      Some  historians  pretend 
that  Duprat  owed  his  fortune  and  his  fame  to  a   bold  and 
singular  stroke.     Perceiving  that  the  count  d'Angouleme, 
his  pupil,   was  smitten  with  the  charms  of  Mary,  sister  of 
Henry  VIII.  king  of  England,  the  young   and   beautiful 
wife  of  Louis  XII.  an  infirm  husband,  who  was  childless; 
and  finding  that  the  queen  had  made  an  appointment  with 
the  young  prince,  who  stole  to  her  apartment  during  the 
night,  by  a  back   staircase  ;  just  as  he  was  entering   the 
chamber  of  Mary,   he  was  seized  all  at  once  by  a  stout 
man,  who  carried  him  off  confounded  and  dumb.     The 
man  immediately  made  himself   known  ;   it  was  Duprat. 
"  What!"  said  he  sharply  to  the  count,  "  you  want  to  give 
yourself  a  master!   and  you  are  going  to  sacrifice  a  throne 
to  the  pleasure  of  a  moment!"    The  count  d'Angouleme, 
far  from   taking   this   lesson   amiss,    presently   recollected 
himself;  and,  on  coming  to   the  crown,  gave  him  marks 
of  his  gratitude.     To  settle  himself  in  the  good  graces  of 
this  prince,  who  was  continually  in  quest  of  money,  and 
did  not  always  find  it,  he  suggested  to  him   many  illegal 
and  tyrannical  expedients,  such  as  selling  the  offices  of  the 
judicature,  and  of  creating  a  new  chamber  to  the  parlia- 
ment of   Paris,    which,  composed  of  twenty   counsellors, 
formed  what  was  called  la  Tournelle.     By  his  influence 
also  the  taxes  were  augmented,  and   new  imposts  estab- 
lished, contrary  to  the  ancient  constitution   of  the  king- 
dom, all  which  measures  he  pursued  without  fear  or  re- 
straint    Having  attended  Francis  I.  into  Italy,    he  per- 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Lysons's  Environs,  vol.  I.  and  IV. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. — Usher's 
Life  and  Letters,  p.  579. — Lloyd's  Memoirs,  fol.  598. — Barwic-k's  Life  ;  see 
Index. — In  1764  died  Baldwin  Duppa,  cs^.  at  Hullingburne,  in  Kent,  who  was 
be  the  last  of  the  bishop's  family. 


506  D  U  P  R  A  T. 

suaded  that  prince  to  abolish  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  and 
to  make  the  Concordat,  by  which  the  pope  bestowed  on 
the  king  the  right  of  nominating  to  the  benefices  of  France, 
and  the  king  granted  to  the  pope  the  annates  of  the  grand 
benefices  on  the  footing  of  current  revenue.  While  this 
concordat,  which  was  signed  Dec.  16,  1515,  rendered  him 
odious  to  the  magistrates  and  ecclesiastics,  he  soon  reaped 
the  fruits  of  his  devotion  to  the  court  of  Rome  ;  for,  having 
embraced  the  ecclesiastical  profession,  he  was  successively 
raised  to  the  bishoprics  of  Meaux,  of  Albi,  of  Valence, 
of  Die,  of  Gap,  to  the  archbishopric  of  Sens,  and  at  last  to 
the  purple,  in  1527.  Being  appointed  legate  a.  latere  in 
France,  he  performed  the  coronation  of  queen  Eleonora  of 
Austria.  He  is  said  to  have  aspired  to  the  papacy  in  1534, 
upon  the  death  of  Clement  VII.  ;  but  his  biographers  are 
inclined  to  doubt  this  fact,  as  he  was  now  in  years  and  very 
infirm.  He  retired,  as  the  end  of  his  days  approached,  to 
the  chateau  de  Nantouillet,  where  he  died  July  9,  1535, 
corroded  by  remorse,  and  consumed  by  diseases.  His  own 
interests  were  almost  always  his  only  law.  He  sacrificed 
every  thing  to  them  ;  he  separated  the  interests  of  the  king 
from  the  good  of  the  public,  and  sowed  discord  between 
the  council  and  the  parliament ;  while  he  did  nothing  for 
the  dioceses  committed  to  his  charge.  He  was  a  long  time 
archbishop  of  Sens,  without  ever  appearing  there  once. 
Accordingly  his  death  excited  no  regret,  not  even  among 
his  servile  dependents.  However,  he  built,  at  the  Hotel- 
Dieu  of  Paris,  the  hall  still  called  the  legate's-hall.  "  It 
would  have  been  much  larger,"  said  the  king,  "  if  it  could 
contain  all  the  poor  he  has  made."1 

DUPRE  DE  ST.  MAUR  (NICHOLAS  FRANCIS),  master  of 
the  accounts  at  Paris,  was  born  there  in  1696,  and  died  in 
that  capital  Dec.  1,  1774.  He  was  admitted  of  the  French 
academy  in  1733,  and  was  much  esteemed  as  a  man  of 
general  knowledge  and  taste.  He  attempted  to  give  his 
countrymen  an  idea  of  English  poetry,  by  a  translation 
into  French  of  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  in  4  vols.  12mo, 
containing  also  the  Paradise  Regained,  translated  by  a  Je- 
suit, with  Addison's  remarks  on  the  former.  This  version, 
in  which  great  liberties  are  taken  with  the  original,  is  writ- 
ten in  an  animated  and  florid  style.  The  last  edition  of 
the  Diet.  Hist,  however,  robs  him  of  the  whole  merit  of 

\  Diet.  Hist. — Moreri  in  Prat. 


D  U  P  R  E.  50? 

this  translation,  and  ascribes  it  to  Boismorand,  whose  name 
was  not  so  good  a  passport  to  fame  as  that  of  Dupre.  He 
wrote  also,  an  "  Essay  on  the  Coins  of  France,"  1746,  4to, 
a  work  abounding  in  curious  disquisition,  and  justly  es- 
teemed ;  "  Inquiries  concerning  the  value  of  Monies,  and 
the  price  of  Grain,"  1761,  12mo  ;  and  "The  Table  of 
the  duration  of  Human  Life,"  in  the  Natural  History  of  M« 
de  Buffon.  The  author,  who  had  cultivated  in  his  youth 
the  flowers  of  imagination,  devoted  his  old  age  to  studies 
relative  to  rural  oeconomy,  to  agriculture,  and  other  sci- 
ences of  importance  to  mankind.1 

DU  PUY.     See  PUY. 

DURAND  (DAVID),  D.  D.  a  very  eloquent  French 
protcstant  preacher  at  the  Savoy  in  London,  and  a  fellow  of 
the  royal  society,  was  born  about  1679  at  St.  Pargoire  in 
Lower  Languedoc,  and  was  the  son  and  brother  of  two 
distinguished  protestant  clergymen.  Of  his  history,  how- 
ever, our  memoirs  are  very  scanty.  It  appears  that  he  had 
a  congregation  first  at  Amsterdam,  whence  he  was  invited 
to  that  of  the  Savoy  in  London,  where  he  died  Jan.  16, 
1763.  His  character  was  that  of  an  universal  scholar,  a 
deep  divine,  a  devotee  to  truth,  and  a  most  benevolent 
and  disinterested  man.  Among:  his  works  are,  1.  "La  Vie 

O  * 

et  les  Sentimens  de  Lucilio  Vanini,"  Rotterdam,  1717, 
12mo,  and  afterwards  published  in  English.  2.  "  Histoire 
de  la  Peinture  ancienne,"  from  Pliny's  Natural  History, 
with  the  Latin  text,  and  notes,  Lond.  1725,  fol.  without 
his  name.  [3.  "  A  volume  of  Sermons  in  French,"  Lond. 
1726.]  4.  "  Hist,  naturelle  del'Oretde  1' Argent,"  edited 
in  the  same  manner,  1729,  fol.  and  both  marked  by  French 
bibliographers  among  their  rare  books.  5.  "  C.  Plinii  his- 
toriae  naturalis  ad  Titum  imperatorem  pra?fatio,"  collated 
with  ancient  MSS.  &c.  Lond.  1728,  Svo.  6.  An  edition 
of  Telemachus,  with  notes  and  illustrations,  and  a  life  of 
Fenelon,  Hamburgh,  1731,  2  vols.  12mo,  and  revised  by 
Dr.  Durand  for  Watts  of  London,  1745.  7.  "  Histoire  du 
XVI  Siecle,"  Lond.  1725 — 29,  6  vols.  Svo,  on  the  plan  of 
Perizonius.  8.  "  Onzieme  et  douzieme  volumes  de  1'Hist. 
d'Angleterre  par  Rapin,"  Hague,  1734,  and  Paris,  1749, 
2  vols.  4to.  9.  "  Academica,  sive  de  judicio  erga  verum, 
in  ipsis  primis  fontibus,  opera  P.  Valentiae  Zafrensis,  editio 
jiova  emendatior,"  Lond.  1740,  Svo,  printed  by  Bowyer, 

1  Diet.  Hist. — Biog.  Universelle  in  Boismorand^ 


50S  D  U  R  A  N  D. 

in  French  and  Latin.  This  work  is  so  scarce  in  France, 
that  when  M.  Capperonnier,  one  of  the  keepers  of  the 
national  library,  wanted  to  add  it  to  the  other  editions  pub- 
lished by  Barbou,  he  was  obliged  to  transcribe  the  whole 
from  a  copy  lent  to  him  by  M.  Chardin,  who  had  one  of 
the  finest  libraries  in  Paris.  10.  "  Exercices  Francais  et 

3 

Anglais,"  Lond.  1745,  Svo.  11.  "Dissertation  en  forme 
cTentretien  sur  la  Prosodie  Francaise,"  prefixed  to  Bo- 
yer's  Dictionary.  12.  "  Eclaircissemens  sur  le  toi  et  sur  le 
vous,"  ibid.  1753,  12mo.  His  sentiments  on  the  thce  and 
thoit  have  been  adopted  by  La  Harpe  in  his  late  lectures. 
In  1777,  a  posthumous  work  by  Dr.  Durand,  a  life  of 
Ostervald,  was  published,  with  a  preface  by  the  late  rev. 
Samuel  Beuzeville  of  Bethnal-green,  a  French  clergyman, 
\vho  died  in  1782.  * 

DURAND  (WILLIAM),  one  of  the  most  learned  lawyers 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  was  born  at  Puimoisson  in  Pro- 
vence ;  and  was  Henry  of  Suza's  pupil,  and  taught  canon 
law  at  Modena.  He  afterwards  was  made  chaplain  and 
auditor  of  the  sacred  palace,  legate  to  Gregory  X.  at  the 
council  of  Lyons,  and  bishop  of  Mende,  1286.  He  died 
at  Rome,  November  J,  1296.  His  works  are,  "Speculum 
Juris,"  Rome,  1474,  fol.  a  work  which  gained  him  the 
jiame  of  Speculator.  "  Rationale  divinorum  officiorum  ;" 
the  first  edition  is  Mentz,  1459,  fol.  very  scarce.  "  Re- 
pertorium  Juris,"  Venice,  1496,  fol.  &c. — He  is  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  his  nephew,  William  Durand,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  as  bishop  of  Mende,  and  died  1328.  There 
is  an  excellent  treatise  by  this  last ;  "  De  la  maniere  de 
celebrer  le  Concile  general,"  Paris,  154-5,  Svo.  He  wrote 
it  on  occasion  of  the  council  of  Vienne,  to  which  he  was 
summoned  by  Clement  V.  1310.  This  treatise  may  also 
be  found  in  a  collection  of  several  works  of  the  same  kind, 
published  by  M.  Fourte,  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne.  ~ 

DURAND  (DE  ST.  POURSAIN),  so  called  from  a  town  in 
Auvergne,  a  learned  French  divine  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, entered  the  Dominican  order,  took  a  doctor's  degree 
at  Paris,  was  master  of  the  sacred  palace,  bishop  of  Puy 
in  Velay,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Meaux,  where  he  died 
in  1333.  Durand  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of 
his  age ;  he  left  Commentaries  on  the  four  books  of  Sen- 

1  Diet  Hist.— Nichols's  Life  of  Bowyer. 

8  Moreri.— Diet.  Hist. — Clement  Bibl.  Curieuse.—  Archseolosia,  vol.  II. 


D  U  R  A  N  D.  509 

tence,  Paris,  1550,  2  vols.  fol.  and  "  Trait£  de  TOrigine 
des  Jurisdictions,"  4to.  He  frequently  combats  the  opi- 
nions of  St.  Thomas,  being  an  adherent  of  Scotus,  and 
displayed  so  much  ingenuity  in  his  disputes,  as  to  be  called 
the  Most  resolute  Doctor.  Although  the  Thomists  could 
not  conquer  him  in  his  life,  one  of  the  number  contrived 
to  dispose  of  him  after  death,  in  these  lines  : 

"  Durus  Durandus  jacet  hie  sub  marmore  duro, 
An  sit  salvandus  ego  nescio,  nee  quoque  euro."  l 

DURANT,  not  DURAND  (GiLLEs),  Sieur  de  la  Ber- 
gerie,  an  eminent  advocate  to  the  parliament  of  Paris,  is 
supposed,  according  to  Pasquier,  book  xix.  letter  15,  to 
be  the  same  who  was  one  of  the  nine  advocates  commis- 
sioned by  the  court  to  reform  the  custom  of  Paris.  He 
was  also  among  the  best  poets  before  Malherbe,  wrote  odes, 
sonnets,  elegies,  &c.  and  translated,  or  imitated  part  of 
the  Latin  pieces  written  by  his  friend  John  Bounefons  the 
father ;  under  the  title  of,  "  Imitations  tirees  du  Latin  de 
Jean  Bonnefons,  avec  autres  amours  et  melanges  poe- 
tiques,"  1727,  12mo.  This  work  has  gone  through  several 
editions.  "  The  verses  to  his  godmother  on  the  decease  of 
her  ass,  who  died  in  the  flower  of  his  age  during  the  siege 
of  Paris,  Tuesday,  Aug.  28,  1590,"  are  esteemed  a  master- 
piece in  the  ironical  and  sportive  style.  They  may  be 
found  in  the  ingenious  work,  entitled,  "  Satyre  MenipeeY* 
and  in  the  works  of  Durant,  1594,  12mo.  He  was  broken 
on  the  wheel,  July  16,  1618,  with  two  Florentine  brothers 
of  the  house  des  patrices,  for  a  libel  against  the  king. 
Some,  however,  doubt  if  this  is  the  same. 2 

DURANTI  (JOHN  STEPHEN),  son  of  a  counsellor  of  the 
parliament  of  Toulouse,  was  advocate  general,  and  after- 
wards appointed  first  president  of  the  parliament  by  Henry 
III.  in  1581,  at  the  time  when  the  fury  of  the  league  was 
at  its  height.  Duranti  opposed  it  with  all  his  might;  but 
was  unable  to  restrain  the  factious  either  by  threats  or  ca- 
resses. After  having  many  times  narrowly  escaped  death, 
once,  as  he  was  endeavouring  to  appease  a  tumult,  one  of 
the  rebels  killed  him  by  a  musket  ball,  on  the  10th  of 
February,  1589.  While  Duranti  with  uplifted  hands  was 
imploring  heaven  for  his  assassins,  the  people  stabbed  him 
in  a  thousand  places,  and  dragged  him  by  the  feet  to  the 

1  MorerL — Cave,— Brucker;  »-  L'Avocat's  Diet.  Hist, — Moreri. 


510  DURANTI. 

place  of  execution.  As  there  was  no  gibbet  prepared, 
they  tied  his  feet  to  the  pillory,  and  nailed  behind  him  the 
picture  of  king  Henry  III.,  accompanying  their  cruelties 
with  every  brutal  insult  to  his  lifeless  remains.  Such  was 
his  recompense  for  the  pains  he  had  taken  the  foregoing 
year  to  preserve  Toulouse  from  the  plague.  To  this  piece 
of  service  may  be  added  the  foundation  of  the  college  of 
FEsquille,  magnificently  constructed  by  his  orders ;  the 
establishment  of  two  brotherhoods,  the  one  to  portion  off 
poor  girls,  and  the  other  for  the  relief  of  prisoners;  and, 
many  other  acts  of  liberality  to  several  young  men  of  pro- 
mising hopes,  &c.  The  church  of  Rome  too  was  no  less 
obliged  to  him  for  his  book  "  De  ritibus  ecclesioe,"  which 
was  thought  so  excellent  by  pope  Sixtus  V.  that  he  had  it 
printed  at  Rome,  in  1591,  folio.  It  has  been  falsely  at- 
tributed to  Peter  Danes.  The  life  of  Duranti  was  pub- 
lished by  Martel,  in  his  Memoirs.  The  day  after  his 
death,  Duranti  was  secretly  buried  at  the  convent  of  the 
Cordeliers ;  on  which  occasion  he  had  no  other  cerecloth 
than  the  picture  representing  Henry  III.  that  had  been 
hung  up  with  his  body  to  the  prllory.  His  heirs  raised  a 
monument  to  him,  when  the  troubles  were  appeased.1 

DLJREL  (JOHN),  a  learned  divine  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  who  wrote  several  pieces  in   vindication   of  the 
Church  of  England,  was  born  at  St.  Helier's  in  the  Isle  of 
Jersey,  in  1625.     About  the  end  of  1640,  he  was  entered 
of  Merton-college  in  Oxford ;  but  when  that  city  came 
to  be  garrisoned  for  king  Charles  I.  he  retired  into  France : 
and,  having  studied  for  some  time  at  Caen  in  Normandy, 
took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  in  the  Sylvanian  college 
of  that  place,  on  the  8th  of  July  1664.     Then  he  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  divinity,  for  above  two  years,  at 
Saumur,  under  the  celebrated  Amyrault,  divinity  reader  in 
that  Protestant  university.     In  1647  he  returned  to  Jersey, 
and  continued  for  some  time  until  the  reduction  of  that 
island    by  the   parliament-forces  in    1651,    when  on    ac- 
count of  his  being  in  the  defence  of  it  for  the  king,  he  was 
forced  to  withdraw,  or  rather  was  expelled  thence.     He 
then   went  to  Paris,  and  received  episcopal  ordination  in 
the  chapel  of  sir  Richard  Browne,  knt.  his  majesty's  resi- 
dent in  France,  from  the  hands  of  Thomas,  bishop  of  Gal- 
loway.    From  Paris,  he  removed  to  St.  Malo's,  whence  the 

1  Moreri.—  Dupin.— - Freheri  Theatrum. 


D   U  R  E  L!  511 

reformed  church  of  Caen  invited  him  to  be  one  of  their 
ministers,  in  the  absence  of  the  learned  Samuel  Bochart, 
who  was  going  into  Sweden.  Not  long  after,  the  land- 
grave of  Hesse  having  written  to  the  ministers  of  Paris,  to 
send  him  a  minister  to  preach  in  French  at  his  highness's 
court,  he  was  by  them  recommended  to  that  prince,  but 
preferred  being  chaplain  to  the  duke  de  la  Force,  father  to 
the  princess  of  Turenne ;  in  which  station  he  continued 
above  eight  years.  Upon  the  restoration  he  came  over  to 
England,  and  was  very  instrumental  in  setting  up  the  new 
episcopal  French  church  at  the  Savoy  in  London,  in  which 
he  officiated  first  on  Sunday,  14  July,  1661,  and  continued 
there  for  some  years  after,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
hearers.  In  April  1663,  he  was  made  prebendary  of  North 
Auiton,  in  the  cathedral  of  Salisbury,  being  then  chaplain 
in  ordinary  to  his  majesty;  and,  the  llth  of  February  fol- 
lowing, succeeded  to  a  canonry  of  Windsor.  On  the  1st 
of  July,  1668,  he  was  installed  into  the  fourth  prebend  of 
Durham,  and  had  a  rich  donative  conferred  on  him.  The 
28th  of  February,  166l'-70,  he  was  actually  created  doctor 
of  divinity,  by  virtue  of  the  chancellor's  letters.  In  1677, 
king  Charles  II.  gave  him  the  deanery  of  Windsor,  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Dr.  Bruno  Ryves,  into  which  he  was  in- 
stalled July  27.  He  had  also  the  great  living  of  Witney  in 
Oxfordshire  conferred  on  him,  all  which  preferments  he 
obtained,  partly  through  his  own  qualifications,  being  not 
only  a  good  scholar,  but  also  "  a  perfect  courtier,  skilful 
in  the  arts  of  getting  into  the  favour  of  great  men  ;"  and 
partly  through  his  great  interest  with  king  Charles  II.,  to 
whom  he  was  personally  known  both  in  Jersey  and  France. 
Mr.  Wood  thinks,  that,  had  he  lived  some  years  longer, 
he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  promoted  to  a  bishopric. 
He  published  several  things  ;  and,  among  the  rest,  1.  "  The 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  asserted,  in  a  Sermon, 
preached  [in  French]  at  the  chapel  of  the  Savov,  before 
the  French  Congregation,  which  usually  assembles  in  that 
place,  upon  the  first  day  that  divine  service  was  there  ce- 
lebrated according  to  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land." Translated  into  English  by  G.  B.  doctor  in  physic, 
Lond.  1662,  4to.  2.  "A  View  of  the  Government  and 
public  Worship  of  God  in  the  reformed  churches  of  Eng- 
land, as  it  is  established  by  the  act  of  uniformity,"  Lond. 
1662,  4to.  Exceptions  having  been  made  to  this  book  by 
the  nonconformists,  partly  m  a  book  called  "  Apologia 


512  B  U  R  E  L, 

pro  ministris  trt  Anglia  (vulgo)  noneonformistis,"  by  an 
anonymous  author,  supposed  to  be  Henry  Hickman,  he 
published,  3.  "  Sanctae  Ecclesise  Anglicanao  ad  versus  ini- 
quas  atque  inverecundas  Schismaticorum  Criminationes, 
Vindiciae."  The  presbyterians,  taking  great  offence  at  it, 
published  these  answers:  1.  "  Bonasus  Vapulans  :  or  some 
castigations  given  to  Mr.  John  Durel  for  fouling  himself 
and  others  in  his  English  and  Latin  book,"  Loud.  1672,  8vo, 
reprinted  in  1676  under  this  title,  "The  Nonconformists 
vindicated  from  the  Abuses  put  upon  them  by  Mr.  Durel 
and  Mr.  Scrivner."  2.  Dr.  Lewis  Du  Moulin  published 
also  this  answer  thereto  :  "  Patronus  bonre  fidei,  in  causa 
Puritanorum,"  &c  Lond.  1672,  8vo.  Besides  these,  Dr. 
Durel  published  his  "  Theoremata  philosophise,"  consist- 
ing of  some  theses  maintained  at  the  university  of  Caen  ; 
a  French  and  Latin  edition  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book  ; 
and  a  French  translation  of  the  Whole  Duty  of  Man, 
partly  written  by  his  wife. l 

DURELL  (DAVID),  a  learned  divine,  and  biblical  critic, 
of  the  church  of  England,  was  a  native  of  the  island  of 
Jersey,  and  probably  a  descendant  of  the  preceding  Dr. 
John  Durel.  That  the  Durells  were  a  very  respectable 
family  in  Jersey  is  evident  from  there  being  several  persons 
of  the  name  who  received  considerable  promotions  both  in 
that  island  and  in  England  during  the  reign  of  king  George 
the  Second.  He  was  born  in  1728,  and  after  going 
through  a  proper  course  of  grammatical  education,  was  ma- 
triculated at  the  university  of  Oxford,  and  became  a 
member  of  Pembroke  college,  where,  on  the  20th  of  June, 
1753,  he  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts.  After  this, 
he  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  Hertford  college,  and  was  ad- 
mitted principal  of  the  same,  in  1757,  in  the  room  of  Dr. 
William  Sharp,  who  resigned  that  office,  and  was  after- 
wards regius  professor  of  Greek  in  the  university,  and 
rector  of  East-Hampstead  in  Berks.  On  the  23d  of  April, 
1760,  Mr.  Dnrell  took  the  degree  of  bachelor  in  divinity, 
and  that  of  Doctor  on  the  14th  of  January,  1764.  Pre- 
viously to  the  taking  his  last  degree,  he  published,  in 
1763,  his  first  learned  work,  entitled,  "The  Hebrew  text 
of  the  parallel  prophecies  of  Jacob  and  Moses,  relating  to 
the  Twelve  Tribes  ;  with  a  translation  and  notes  :  and  the 
various  lections  of  near  forty  MSS.  To  which  are  added, 

i  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.— Biog.  Brit. 


D  U  R  E  L  L.  513 

1.  The  Samaritan  Arabic  version  of  those  passages,  and  part 
of  another  Arabic  version  made  from  the  Samaritan  text, 
neither  of  which  have  been  before  printed.  2.  A  map  of 
the  Land  of  Promise.  3.  An  Appendix,  containing  four 
dissertations  on  points  connected  with  the  subject  of  these 
prophecies,"  Oxford,  4to.  In  this  work  our  author  ex- 
hibited a  valuable  and  decisive  proof  of  his  skill  in  Orien- 
tal literature,  and  of  his  capacity  and  judgment  in  eluci- 
dating the  sacred  Scriptures.  In  1767,  he  was  made  a 
prebendary  of  Canterbury,  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Potter,  who 
had  resigned.  The  only  remaining  preferment,  which  Dr. 
Durell  appears  to  have  been  possessed  of,  was  the  vicarage 
of  Tysehurst  in  Sussex.  In  1772,  he  gave  a  farther  evi- 
dence of  his  great  proficiency  in  biblical  learning,  by  pub- 
lishing "  Critical  remarks  on  the  books  of  Job,  Psalms, 
Ecclesiastes,  and  Canticles,"  Oxford,  4to,  printed  at  the 
Clarendon  press.  In  the  preface  to  this  performance,  the 
author  pleads  for  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible.  He  in- 
tended to  publish  some  remarks  on  the  prophetic  writings ; 
but  this  design  he  was  prevented  from  accomplishing,  by 
his  comparatively  premature  death,  which  happened  when, 
he  was  only  forty-seven  years  of  age.  He  died  at  his  col- 
lege, on  the  19th  of  October,  1775,  and  was  buried  at  St. 
Peter's  in  the  East,  Oxford,  where  there  is  an  inscription, 
on  his  grave-stone,  with  his  arms.  By  his  last  will,  he 
bequeathed  twenty  pounds  a-year,  arising  from  money  by 
him  lent  for  the  building  of  Oxford-market ;  one  half  of 
which  sum  is  given  to  the  principal  of  Hertford  college  ; 
the  other,  to  the  two  senior  fellows.  From  all  that  we  have 
heard  concerning  Dr.  DurelPs  character,  we  understand 
him  to  have  been  a  gentleman  of  eminent  piety  and  good- 
ness. * 

DURER  (ALBERT),  an  eminent  engraver  and  painter, 
descended  from  an  Hongarian  family,  was  born  at  Nurem- 
berg May  20,  1471.  Having  made  a  slight  beginning  with 
a  pencil  in  the  shop  of  his  father,  who  was  a  goldsmith, 
one  Martin  Hupse  taught  him  a  little  of  colouring  and  en- 
graving. He  was  also  instructed  in  arithmetic,  perspective^ 
and  geometry  ;  and  then  undertook,  at  twenty-six  years  of 
age,  to  exhibit  some  of  his  works  to  the  public.  His  first 
work  was  the  three  Graces,  represented  by  three  naked 
women,  having  over  their  heads  a  globe,  in  which  was  en- 

*  Biog.  Brit. 

VOL.  XII.  L  L 


514  DURER. 

graved  the  date  of  the  year  1497,  He  engraved  on  wood 
the  whole  life  and  passion  of  Christ  in  thirty-six  pieces, 
which  were  so  highly  esteemed,  that  Marc  Antonio  Franci 
copied  them  on  copper,  and  so  exactly,  that  they  were 
thought  to  be  Albert's,  and  sold  as  such.  Albert  hearing 
of  this,  and  receiving  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  counter- 
feit cuts,  was  so  enraged,  that  he  immediately  went  to 
Venice,  and  complained  of  Marc  Antonio  to  the  govern- 
ment ;  but  obtained  no  other  satisfaction,  than  that  Marc 
Antonio  should  not  for  the  future  put  Albert's  name  and 
mark  to  his  works. 

As  Durer  did  not  make  so  much  use  of  the  pencil  as  the 
graver,  few  of  his  pictures  are  to  be  met  with,  except  in 
the  palaces  of  princes.  His  picture  of  Adam  and  Eve,  in 
the  palace  at  Prague,  is  one  of  the  most  considerable  of 
his  paintings,  and  Bullart,  who  relates  this,  adds,  that 
there  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  palace  a  picture  of  Christ 
bearing  his  cross,  which  the  city  of  Nuremberg  presented 
to  the  emperor  ;  an  adoration  of  the  wise  men  ;  and  two 
pieces  of  the  Passion,  that  he  made  for  the  monastery  at 
Francfort ;  an  Assumption,  the  beauty  of  which  was  a  good 
income  to  the  monks,  by  the  presents  made  to  them  for 
the  sight  of  so  exquisite  a  piece  :  that  the  people  of  Nu- 
remberg carefully  preserve,  in  the  senators -hall,  his  por- 
traits of  Charlemagne,  and  some  emperors  of  the  house  of 
Austria,  with  the  twelve  apostles,  whose  drapery  is  very 
remarkable:  that  he  sent  to  Raphael  his  portrait  of  himself 
done  upon  canvass,  without  any  colours  or  touch  of  the 
pencil,  only  heightened  with  shades  and  white,  but  with 
such  strength  and  elegance,  that  Raphael  was  surprised  at 
the  sight  of  it ;  and  that  this  excellent  piece,  coming  after- 
wards into  the  hands  of  Julio  Romano,  was  placed  by  him 
among  the  curiosities  of  the  palace  of  Mantua. 

The  particular  account  which  we  find  in  Vasari  of  his 
engravings  is  curious ;  and  it  is  no  small  compliment  to 
him  to  have  this  Italian  author  own,  that  the  prints  of 
Durer,  being  brought  to  Italy,  excited  the  painters  there 
to  perfect  that  part  of  the  art,  and  served  them  for  an  ex- 
cellent model.  Vasari  is  profuse  in  his  praises  of  Duivr's 
delicacy,  and  the  fertility  of  his  imagination.  As  Durer 
could  not  hope  to  execute  all  his  designs  while  he  worked 
on  copper,  he  bethought  himself  of  working  on  wood. 
One  of  his  best  pieces  in  this  style  is  a  Saint  Eustachius 
kneeling  before  a  stag,  which  has  a  crucifix  between  its 


D  U  R  E  R.  51-5 

horns ;  which  cut,  says  Vasari,  is  wonderful,  and  particu- 
larly for  the  beauty  of  the  dogs  represented  in  various  at- 
titudes. John  Valentine  Andreas,  a  doctor  in  divinity  in 
the  duchy  of  Wirtemberg,  sent  this  piece  to  a  prince  of 
the  house  of  Brunswick  ;  to  whom  the  prince  replied  by 
letter,  "  You  have  extremely  obliged  me  by  your  new 
present;  a  cut  which  merits  a  nobler  metal  than  brass, 
done  by  the  celebrated  painter  of  Nuremberg,  and  which, 
I  think,  wants  nothing,  unless  Zeuxis  or  Parrhasius,  or 
some  person  equally  favoured  by  Minerva,  should  add  co- 
lours and  the  native  form."  The  praises  which  this  same 
divine  gave  to  Durer  in  his  answer  to  the  prince's  letter, 
are  remarkable,  and  worth  transcribing :  "  I  could  easily 
guess,"  says  he,  "  that  the  Eustachius  of  Durer  would  not 
prove  an  unacceptable  present  to  you,  from  whatever  hand 
a  performance  of  that  admirable  artist  came.  It  is  very  sur- 
prising in  regard  to  that  man,  that,  in  a  rude  and  barbarous 
age,  he  was  the  first  of  the  Germans  who  not  only  arrived  to 
an  exact  imitation  of  nature  by  the  perfection  of  his  art,  but 
likewise  left  no  second ;  being  so  absolute  a  master  of  it 
in  all  its  parts,  in  etching,  engraving,  statuary,  archi- 
tecture, optics,  symmetry,  and  the  rest,  that  he  had  no 
equal,  except  Michel  Angelo  Buonaroti,  his  contemporary 
and  rival ;  and  left  behind  him  such  works  as  were  too 
much  for  the  life  of  one  man.  He  lived  always  in  a  frugal 
manner,  and  with  the  appearance  of  poverty.  The  Italians 
highly  esteem  him,  and  reproach  us  for  not  setting  a  due 
value  on  the  ornaments  of  our  own  country."  We  learn 
from  the  same  authority,  that  the  emperor  Rodolphus  II. 
ordered  the  plate  of  St.  Eustachius  to  be  gilded ;  and  that 
Durer,  at  the  intimation  of  his  friend  and  patron  Bilibal- 
dus  Pirkheimer,  corrected  an  error  in  it,  which  was,  that  the 
stirrups  of  the  horse  on  which  Eustachius  was  to  ride,  were 
too  short. 

The  emperor  Maximilian  had  a  great  affection  for  Durer, 
treated  him  with  a  particular  regard,  and  gave  him  a  good 
pension  and  letters  of  nobility ;  and  Charles  V.  and  his 
brother  Ferdinand,  king  of  Hungary,  followed  Maximilian's 
example  in  favour  and  liberality  to  him.  This  eminent 
man  died  at  Nuremberg,  on  April  6,  1523,  and  was  in- 
terred in  the  church-yard  at  St.  John's  church,  where  his 
good  friend  Pirkheimer  placed  a  very  honourable  sepul- 
chral inscription  to  him.  He  was  married,  and  had  a 
shrew  for  his  wife,  while  others  relate,  that,  in  painting 

L  L  2 


KIG  B  U  R  E  R. 

the  Virgin  Mary,  he  took  her  face  for  his  model ;  it  is 
not  impossible  that  both  these  accounts  may  be  true, 
and  it  is  very  certain  that  she  embittered  his  life.  He 
Was  a  man  of  most  agreeable  conversation,  and  a  lover 
of  mirth ;  yet  he  was  virtuous  and  wise,  and,  to  his  ho- 
nour be  it  said,  never  employed  his  art  in  obscene  repre- 
sentations, which  was  too  much  the  fashion  of  his  times. 

Albert  Durer  wrote  several  books  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, which  were  translated  into  Latin  by  other  persons, 
and  published  after  his  death,  viz.  1.  His  book  upon  the 
rules  of  painting,  entitled  "  De  Symmetria  Partium  in 
rectis  formis  Humanorum  Corporum,"  printed  in  folio,  at 
Nuremberg,  in  1532,  and  at  Paris  in  1557.  An  Italian 
Version  also  was  published  at  Venice,  in  1591.  2.  "  In- 
stitutiones  Geometries,"  Paris,  1532.  3.  "  De  Urbibus, 
Arcibus,  Castellisque  condendis  &  muniendis,"  Paris,  1531. 
4.  <c  De  Varietate  Figurarum,  et  Flexuris  Partium,  et 
Gestibus  Imaginum,"  Nuremberg,  1534.  The  figures  in 
these  books,  which  are  from  wooden  plates,  are  very  nu- 
merous, and  most  admirably  well  executed,  indeed,  far 
beyond  any  thing  of  the  kind  done  in  our  own  days. 
Some  of  them  also  are  of  a  very  large  size,  as  much  as 
16  inches  in  length,  and  of  a  proportional  breadth,  which 
being  exquisitely  worked,  must  have  cost  great  labour. 
His  geometry  is  chiefly  of  the  practical  kind,  consisting 
of  the  most  curious  descriptions,  inscriptions,  and  circum- 
scriptions of  geometrical  lines,  planes,  and  solids.  We 
here  meet,  for  the  first  time,  with  the  plane  figures,  which 
folded  up  make  the  five  regular  or  platonic  bodies,  as  well 
as  that  curious  construction  of  a  pentagon,  being  the  last 
method  in  prob.  23  of  Hutton's  Mensuration. 

The  incidents  of  Albert  Durer's  life  have  been  variously 
represented,  and  modern  critics  have  entertained  various 
opinions  of  his  skill..  Referring  to  our  authorities  for  some 
of  these,  we  shall  conclude  this  article  with  what  has  been 
advanced  by  his  latest  critic,  Mr.  Fuseli.  He  seems,  says 
this  artist,  to  have  had  a  general  capacity,  not  only  for 
every  branch  of  his  art,  but  for  every  science  that  stood  in 
some  relation  with  it.  He  was  perhaps  the  best  engraver 
of  his  time.  He  wrote  treatises  on  proportion,  perspec- 
tive, geometry,  civil  and  military  architecture.  He  was 
a  man  of  extreme  ingenuity,  without  being  a  genius.  He 
studied,  and  as  far  as  his  penetration  reached,  established 
««rtain  proportions  of  the  human  frame,  but  he  did  not 


D  U  R  E  R.  sir 

invent  or  compose  a  permanent  standard  of  style.  Every 
work  of  his  is  a  proof  that  he  wanted  the  power  of  imita- 
tion ;  of  concluding  from  what  he  saw,  to  what  he  did  not 
see ;  that  he  copied  rather  than  imitated  the  forms  of  in- 
dividuals, and  tacked  deformity  and  meagreness  to  fulness, 
and  sometimes  to  beauty.  Such  is  his  design.  In  com- 
position, copious  without  taste,  anxiously  precise  in  parts, 
and  unmindful  of  the  whole,  he  has  rather  shewn  us  what 
to  avoid  than  what  to  follow:  in  conception  he  some- 
times had  a  glimpse  of  the  sublime,  but  it  was  only  a 
glimpse.  Such  is  the  expressive  attitude  of  his  Christ  in 
the  Garden,  and  the  figure  of  Melancholy  as  the  Mother 
of  Invention.  His  Knight  attended  by  Death  and  the 
Fiend,  is  more  capricious  than  terrible,  and  his  Adam  and 
Eve  are  two  common  models,  hemmed  in  by  rocks.  If  he 
approached  genius  in  any  part  of  the  art,  it  was  in  colour. 
His  colour  went  beyond  his  age,  and  in  easel-pictures,  as 
far  excelled  the  oil-colour  of  Raphael  for  juice  and  breadth, 
and  handling,  as  Raphael  excels  him  in  every  other  qua- 
lity. His  drapery  is  broad,  though  much  too  angular, 
and  rather  snapt  than  folded.  Albert  is  called  the  Father 
of  the  German  school,  and  if  numerous  copyists  of  his 
faults  can  confer  that  honour,  he  was.  That  the  exporta- 
tion of  his  works  to  Italy  should  have  effected  a  temporary 
change  in  the  principles  of  some  Tuscan  artists,  in  Andrea 
del  Sarto  and  Jacopo  da  Pontormo,  who  had  studied  Mi- 
chel Angelo,  is  a  fact  which  proves  that  minds  at  certain 
periods  may  be  as  subject  to  epidemic  influence,  as 
bodies.1 

DURET  (Louis),  born  of  a  noble  family  at  Beaug6-la- 
ville,  in  Brescia,  then  belonging  to  the  duke  of  Savoy,  in 
1527,  was  among  the  most  famous  physicians  of  his  time, 
and  practised  his  art  at  Paris  with  great  reputation,  during 
the  reigns  of  Charles  IX.  and  Henry  III.  to  whom  he  was 
physician  in  ordinary.  He  came  to  Paris  very  young, 
without  money  or  friends,  yet  soon  acquired  distinction  in 
his  studies  of  the  belles  Jettres  and  medicine,  and  when 
he  had  taken  his  doctor's  degree  in  the  latter  faculty,  ac- 
quired great  practice  ;  a  very  advantageous  marriage  served 
to  introduce  him  at  court,  and  to  the  appointment  of  pro- 

1  D'Argcnville,  vol.  III. — Descamps,  vol.  I. — Mclchior  Adam. — Strutt  and 
•Pilkitiston. — Sir  Joshua  Reynokls's  Works. — Uilpin  on  Prints. — .Life  in  German, 
by  J.  Ferd.  Roth,  Leipsic,  1791,  8vo. 


518  D  U  R  E  T. 

fessor  of  medicine.     Henry  TIL  who  had  a  singular  esteem 
and  affection  for  him,   granted  him  a  pension  of  four  hun- 
dred crowns  of  gold,  with  survivance  to  his  five  sons  ;  and, 
as  a  mark  of  his  condescension,  was  present  at  the  mar- 
riage of  his  daughter,  to  whom  he  made  presents  to  a  con- 
siderable amount.     Duret  died  Jan.  22,  1586,  at  the  age 
of  fifty-nine.     He  was  firmly  attached  to  the  doctrine  of 
Hippocrates,  and  treated  medicine  in  the  manner  of  the 
ancients.    Of  several  books  that  he  left,  the  most  esteemed 
is  a  "  Commentaire  sur  les  Coaques  d'Hippocrate,"   Paris, 
1621,  Gr.  and  Lat.  folio.     He  died  before  he  had  put  the 
finishing  hand  to  this  work.     John  Duret,  his  son,  revised 
it,  and  gave  it  to  the  public  under  this  title,   "  Hippocratis 
magni  Coacte  praenotiones  :  opus  admirabile,  in  tres  libros 
distributum,  interprete  et  enarratore   L.  Dureto."      John 
Duret  followed  his  father's  profession  with  great  success, 
and  died  in  1629.,  aged  sixty-six.2 

D'URFEY  (THOMAS),  an  author,  more  generally  spoken 
of  by  the  familiar  name  of  Tom,  was  descended  from  an 
ancient  family  in  France.     His  parents,  being  protestants, 
fled  from  Rochelle  before  it  was  besieged  by  Lewis  XIII. 
in  1628,  and  settled  at  Exeter,  where  this  their  son  was 
born,  but  in  what  year  is  uncertain.     He  was  originally 
bred  to  the  law;  but  soon  finding  that  profession  too  sa- 
turnine for  his  volatile  and  lively  genius,  he  quitted  it,  to 
become  a  devotee  of  the  muses ;  in  which  he  met  with  no 
small  success.     His  dramatic  pieces,  which  are  very  nu- 
merous, were  in  general  well  received  :  yet,  within  thirty 
years  after  his  death,  there  was  not  one  of  them  on  the 
muster-roll  of  acting  plays  ;  that  licentiousness  of  intrigue, 
looseness  of  sentiment,  and  indelicacy  of  wit,  which  were 
their  strongest  recommendations  to  the  audiences  for  whom 
they  were  written,  having  very  justly  banished  them  from 
the  stage  in  the  periods  of  purer  taste.     Yet  are  they  very 
far  from  being  totally  devoid  of  merit.     The  plots  are  in 
general  busy,  intricate,  and  entertaining  ;  the  characters 
are  not  ill  drawn,  although  rather  too   farcical,  and  the 
language,    if   not   perfectly   correct,    yet    easy  and    well 
adapted  for  the  dialogue   of  comedy.     But  what  obtained 
Mr.  D'Urfey  his  greatest  reputation,  was  a  peculiarly  happy 
knack  he  possessed  in  the  writing  of  satires  and  irregular 
odes.     Many  of  these  were  upon  temporary  occasions,  and 

1  Moreri. — Niceron,  vol.  XXIII. — Frehcri  Thealrum. 


D'U  R  F  E  Y.  519 

were  of  no  little  service  to  the  party  in  whose  cause  he 
wrote ;  which,  together  with  his  natural  vivacity  and  good 
humour,  obtained  him  the  favour  of  great  numbers  of  all 
ranks  and  conditions,  monarchs  themselves  not  excluded. 
He  was  strongly  attached  to  the  tory  interest,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  queen  Anne's  reign  had  frequently  the  ho- 
nour of  diverting  that  princess  with  witty  catches  and  songs 
of  humour,  suited  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  written  by 
himself,  and  which  he  sung  in  a  lively  and  entertaining 
manner.  And  the  author  of  the  Guardian,  who,  in  No.  67, 
has  given  a  very  humorous  account  of  Mr.  D'Urfey,  with 
a  view  to  recommend  him  to  the  public  notice  for  a  benefit- 
play,  tells  us,  that  he  remembered  king  Charles  II.  lean- 
ing on  Tom  D'Urfey's  shoulder  more  than  once,  and  hum- 
ming over  a  song  with  him.  He  used  frequently  to  reside 
with  the  earl  of  Dorset  at  Knole  ;  where  a  picture  of  him, 
painted  by  stealth,  is  still  to  be  seen. 

He  appears  to  have  been  a  diverting  companion,  and  a 
cheerful,  honest,  good-natured  man  ;  so  that  he  was  the 
delight  of  the  most  polite  companies  and  conversations, 
from  the  beginning  of  Charles  II.'s  to  the  latter  part  of 
king  George's  I.'s  reign  ;  and  many  an  honest  gentleman 
got  a  reputation  in  his  county  by  pretending  to  have  been 
in  company  with  Tom  D'Urfey.  Yet  he  shared  the  fate 
of  those  whose  only  merit  is  to  contribute  to  merriment, 
and  towards  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  stood  in  need  of 
assistance,  to  prevent  his  passing  the  remainder  of  it  in 
a  cage,  like  a  singing-bird ;  for,  to  speak  in  his  own  words, 
"  after  having  written  more  odes  than  Horace,  and  about 
four  times  as  many  comedies  as  Terence,  he  found  him- 
self reduced  to  great  difficulties  by  the  importunities  of  a 
set  of  men,  who  of  late  years  had  furnished  him  v\ith  the 
accommodations  of  life,  and  would  not,  as  we  say,  be  paid 
with  a  song."  Mr.  Addison  informs  us,  that,  in  order  to 
extricate  him  from  these  difficulties,  he  himself  imme- 
diately applied  to  the  directors  of  the  play-house,  who 
very  generously  agreed  to  act  "  The  Plotting  Sisters,"  a 
play  of  Mr.  D'Urfey's,  for  the  benefit  of  its  author.  What 
the  result  of  this  benefit  was,  does  not  appear ;  but  it  was 
probably  sufficient  to  make  him  easy,  as  we  find  him  liv- 
ing and  continuing  to  write  with  the  same  humour  and 
liveliness  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened  Feb.  26, 
1723.  What  was  his  age  at  this  time,  is  not  certainly 
specified  any  where  ;  but  he  must  have  been  considerably 


520  D'U  R  F  E  Y. 

advanced  in  life,  his  first  play,  which  could  scarcely  have 
been  written  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  having 
made  its  appearance  forty-seven  years  before.  He  was 
buried  in  the  church-yard  of  St.  James's,  Westminster. 

Those  who  have  a  curiosity  to  see  his  ballads,  sonnets, 
&c.  may  find  a  large  number  of  them  in  six  volumes,  12mo, 
entitled  "  Pills  to  purge  Melancholy,"  of  which  the  Guar- 
dian, in  No.  29,  speaks  in  very  favourable  terms,  although 
his  muse  was  certainly  not  of  a  very  high  order.  The  titles 
of  his  dramatic  pieces  (thirty-one  in  number)  may  be  found 
in  the  Biographia  Dramatica. l 

DURHAM  (JAMES),  an  eminent  Scotch  divine  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  eldest  son  of  John  Durham  of 
Easter- Powrie,  esq.  and  descended  from  the  ancient  family 
of  Grange  Durham  in  the  county  of  Angus,  was  born 
about  1622,  and  educated  at  the  university  of  St.  An- 
drew's, which  he  left  without  taking  a  degree,  as  he  had 
then  no  design  of  following  any  of  the  learned  professions. 
When  the  civil  wars  broke  out,  he  served  in  the  army,  with 
the  rank  of  captain,  but  was  so  much  affected  by  his  nar- 
row escape  from  being  killed  in  an  engagement  with  the 
English,  that,  encouraged  by  Dr.  David  Dickson,  profes- 
sor of  divinity  at  Glasgow,  he  determined  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  church.  With  this  view  he  went  to  Glasgow, 
studied  divinity  under  Dr.  Dickson,  and  in  1646  was  li- 
censed by  the  presbytery  of  Irvine  to  preach.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  ordained  minister  of  the  Black-friars7 
church  in  Glasgow,  where  he  became  one  of  the  most 
popular  preachers  of  his  time.  In  1650  he  was  chosen  to 
succeed  Dr.  Dickson  as  professor,  and  about  the  same  time 
attended  Charles  II.  when  in  Scotland,  as  one  of  his  chap- 
lains. In  1651,  when  Cromwell  and  his  army  were  at 
Glasgow,  Durham  preached  before  the  usurper,  and  up- 
braided him  to  his  face  for  having  invaded  the  country. 
Next  day  Cromwell  sent  for  him,  and  told  him  he  thought 
he  had  been  a  wiser  man  than  to  meddle  with  public  affairs 
in  his  sermons.  Durham  answered  that  it  was  not  his  com- 
mon practice,  but  that  he  could  not  help  laying  hold  of 
such  an  opportunity  of  expressing  his  sentiments  in  his 
presence.  Cromwell  dismissed  him  with  a  caution,  but 
met  with  so  many  other  instances  of  similar  rebuffs  from 
the  Scotch  clergy,  that  he  thought  it  unadvisable  to  pur- 

>  Biog.  Dram. — Gibber's  Lives,  vol.  111. — Guardian.— Swift's  Woiks, 


DURHAM.  521 

sue  any  more  severe  course.  Durham  was  a  man  of  such 
moderation  of  temper  and  sentiment,  as  to  be  able  to  con- 
duct himself  without  giving  much  offence  in  those  trou- 
blesome times,  and  gained  the  favour  of  all  parties  by  the 
conscientious  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties.  This  cha- 
racter gave  him  unusual  authority  in  the  country  where  he 
lived ;  but  his  incessant  labours  both  as  a  preacher  and 
writer  brought  on  a  consumptive  disorder,  of  which  he  died 
June  25,  1658,  in  the  prime  of  life.  He  wrote,  1.  "A 
Commentary  on  the  Revelations."  2.  "  Sermons  on  the 
liii.  of  Isaiah."  3.  "  Sermons  on  the  Song  of  Solomon." 
4.  "  A  treatise  on  Scandal."  5.  "  An  Exposition  of  the 
Commandments :"  the  two  latter  posthumous ;  with  some 
single  sermons  and  pious  tracts,  which  have  been  often 
reprinted.  * 

DURHAM,  SIMON  or  SIMEON  of.     See  SIMON. 

DURHAM  (WILLIAM),  an  English  divine,  son  of  John 
Durham  of  Willersley  near  Carnpden  in  Gloucestershire, 
was  born  there  in  1611,  and  educated  at  Broadway  in  the 
same  county.  In  1626  he  became  a  student  of  New-inn, 
Oxford,  took  his  degrees  in  arts,  and  after  receiving  orders 
became  curate  of  St.  Mary's,  Reading.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  rebellion  he  went  to  London,  conformed  with  the 
ruling  powers,  and  became  preacher  at  the  Rolls  chapel. 
He  was  afterwards  presented  to  the  rectory  of  Burfield  in 
Berkshire,  arid  that  of  Tredington  in  Worcestershire;  but 
after  the  restoration  was  ejected  and  came  to  London, 
where  he  remained  unemployed  for  some  time.  At  length 
upon  his  conformity  to  the  established  church,  Sir  Nich. 
Crispe  presented  him  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Mildred's, 
Bread-street,  where  he  died  July  7,  1684.  He  published 
several  single  sermons,  a  tract  on  family  instruction,  and, 
what  is  now  the  most  valuable  of  his  works,  the  life  of  Dr. 
Harris,  president  of  Trinity  college,  Oxford,  1660,  12mo. 
He  had  a  son,  of  the  same  names,  who  was  D.  D.  of  Cam- 
bridge, rector  of  Letcombe  Basset  in  Berkshire,  and  chap- 
lain to  the  duke  of  Monmouth.  He  died  of  an  apoplexy 
June  18,  1686. 2 

DURY  (JOHN),  in  Latin  Duroeus,  was  a  divine  of  Scot- 
land, in  the  seventeenth  century,  who  laboured  with  great 
zeal  to  unite  the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists.  He  was  bora 
educated  for  the  ministry  in  Scotland.  In  1624  he 

>  Biog.  Scoticana,  9  Atb.  Ox.  vol.  II. 


522  D   U  R  Y. 

came  to  Oxford  for  the  sake  of  the  public  library.  Hovr 
long  he  remained  there  is  uncertain  ;  for  his  strong  inclina- 
tion for  his  great  work,  and  his  sanguine  hopes  of  success 
in  it,  induced  him  to  let  his  superiors  know,  that  he  could 
employ  his  talents  better  by  travelling  through  the  world, 
than  if  he  was  confined  to  the  care  of  one  flock.  They 
agreed  to  his  proposals,  and  permitted  him  to  go  from 
place  to  place,  to  negociate  an  accommodation  between 
the  protestant  churches.  He  obtained  likewise  the  appro- 
bation and  recommendation  of  Laud  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury ;  and  was  assisted  by  Bedell  bishop  of  Kilmore,  and 
also  by  Dr.  Joseph  Hall,  bishop  of  Exeter,  as  he  acknow- 
ledges in  the  preface  to  his  "  Prodromus."  He  began  by 
publishing  his  plan  of  union  in  1634  ;  and  the  same  year 
appeared  at  a  famous  assembly  of  the  evangelical  churches 
in  Germany  at  Francfort.  The  same  year  also  the  churches 
of  Transylvania  sent  him  their  advice  and  counsel.  After- 
wards he  negociated  with  the  divines  of  Sweden  and  Den- 
mark :  he  turned  himself  every  way  :  he  consulted  the  uni- 
versities ;  he  communicated  their  answers,  and  was  not 
deterred  by  the  ill  success  of  his  pains,  even  in  1661  *. 
He  appeared  at  that  time  as  much  possessed  as  ever  with 
hopes  of  succeeding  in  this  wild  and  impracticable  scheme  ; 
and,  going  for  Germany,  desired  of  the  divines  of  Utrecht 
an  authentic  testimony  of  their  good  intentions,  after  hav- 
ing informed  them  of  the  state  in  which  he  had  left  the 
affair  with  the  king  of  Great  Britain  and  the  elector  of 
Brandenburgh  ;  and  of  what  had  passed  at  the  court  of 
Hesse,  and  the  measures  which  were  actually  taken  at 
Geneva,  Heidelberg,  and  Metz.  He  desired  to  have  this 
testimonial  of  the  divines  of  Utrecht,  in  order  to  shew  it  to 
the  Germans ;  and  having  obtained  it,  he  annexed  it  to  the 
end  of  a  Latin  work,  which  he  published  this  year  at  Am- 
sterdam, under  the  following  title:  "Johannis  Dursei  ire- 
nicorum  tractatuum  prodromus,  &c."  The  preface  of  this 
book  is  dated  at  Amsterdam,  October  1,  1661. 

Being  at  Francfort  in  April  1662,  he  declared  to  some 
gentlemen  of  Metz,  that  he  longed  extremely  to  see  M. 
Ferri,  an  enthusiast,  like  himself,  for  uniting  discordancies. 

*  Dury's  Life  is  not  very  accurately  Assembly  of  Divines,  and  he  was  also 

given  by  any  of  his  biographers.      He  one  of  the  preachers  before  the  Long 

was  not  all  this  while   abroad   on    his  Parliament.       He    afterwards    quitted 

great  design.     In  1641   w«;  find  him  in  the  presbyterion  party,  and  joined  that 

London,  as  one  of  the  uu  mhers  of  the  of  the  independents. 


D  U  R  Y.  523 

He  resolved  at  length  to  go  to  Metz,  but  met  with  two 
difficulties  :  the   first  was,  that  he  must  consent  to  dress 
after  the  French  fashion,  like  a  countryman  :   the  second, 
to  have  his  great  white  and  square  beard  shaved.      He  got 
over  these   difficulties :  and,   upon    his    arrival,   monsieur 
fern  was  so  surprised,  so  overjoyed,  and  so  very  eager  to 
salute  this  good  doctor  and  fellow-labourer  immediately, 
tha;;   he  \vent  out   to   meet    him   in  a    complete  undress, 
v  conferred  much;  and   their  subject  was  an  universal 
coalition  of  religions.     In  1674,   however,  Dury  began  to 
be  much  discouraged ;  nor   had  he  any    longer  hopes  of 
serving  the  church  by  the  methods  he  had  hitherto  taken. 
He  had  therefore  recourse  to  another  expedient,  as  a  sure 
means  of  uniting   not  only  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  but 
all  Christians ;  and  this  was,  by  giving  a  new  explication 
of  the  Apocalypse.     Accordingly  he  published  it  in  a  little 
treatise  in  French,  at  Francfort  in  1674,     He  now  enjoyed 
a  quiet  retreat  in   the  country  of  Hesse  :   where  Hedwig 
Sophia,  princess  of  Hesse,  who  had   the  regency  of  the 
country,  had   assigned   him  a  very  commodious   lodging, 
with  a  table  well  furnished,  and  had  given  him  free  postage 
for  his  letters.     He  returns  her  thanks  for  this  in  the  epistle 
dedicatory  to  the  book  above  mentioned.     It  is  not  known 
in  what  year  he  died.      He  was  an  honest  man,  full  of  zeal 
and  piety,  .but  somewhat  fanatical.     Among  his  publica- 
tions,  the  titles  of  some  of  which  shew  his  cast  of  opinions, 
in  which  he  was  by  no  means  steady,  we  find,    1.  "  Con- 
sultatio  theologica  super  negocio  Pacis  Ecclesiast."   Lond. 
1641,  4to.    2.  "  A  summary  discourse  concerning  the  work 
of  Peace  Ecclesiastical,"   Camb.  1641,  4to,  which  was  pre- 
sented in  1639  to  sir  Thomas  Rowe,  ambassador   at  Ham- 
burgh.    3.  "  Petition  to  the  house  of  commons  for  the  pre- 
servation of  true  Religion,"   Lond.  1642,  4to.     4.  "  Cer- 
tain considerations,  shewing  the  necessity  of  a  correspond- 
ency in  spiritual  matters  betwixt  all  professed  Churches," 
ibid.    1642,  4 to.     5.   "  Epistolary   Discourse    to   Thomas 
Godwin,  Ph.  Nye,  and  Sam.  Hartlib,"  ibid.  1644,  4to,  a  dis- 
course against  toleration,  which  was  answered  by  H.  Ro- 
binson.  6.  "  Of  Presbytery,  and  Independency,  &c."  1646, 
4to.     7.  "  Model  of  the  Church  Government,"  1647,   4to. 
8.  "  Peace  makes  the  Gospel  way,"    164*,  4to.     9.  "  Sea- 
sonable discourse  for  Reformation,"    1649,  4to,  published 
by   Sam.   Hartlib.      10.  "  An  epistolical   Discourse  to  Mr. 
Tkos.  Thorowgood,    concerning   his  conjecture  that  the 


524  D  U  R  Y. 

Americans  are  descended  from  the  Israelites,  &c."  1649, 
4to.  11.  "  Considerations  concerning  the  Engagement," 
1650,  with  two  other  pamphlets  on  the  same  subject,  in 
answer  to  an  antagonist.  12.  "  The  Reformed  School," 

1650,  12mo,  published  by  Hartlib,  with  a  supplement  in 

1651.  13.  "  The  reformed  Library  Keeper,"  1650,  12mo, 
to   which  is  added    "  Bibliotheca  ducis  Brunovicensis  et 
Lunenburgi,"  at  Wolfenbuttle.     14.  "Conscience  eased, 
&c."    165J,  4to.     15.  "Earnest  plea   for  Gospel   Com- 
munion,"   1654.      16.   "  Summary  platform  of  Divinity," 
1654.     Hartlib  wrote  a  defence  of  Dury  against  the  pres- 
byterians,   Lond.  1650.     In  this   we  are  told   that  he  ob- 
tained an  estate  of  60/.  per  ann.  in  the  marshes  of  Kent, 
which  came  into  the  possession  of  Henry  Oldenburg,  who 
married  his  daughter. 1 

DUSSAULX  (JOHN),  a  French  writer  of  distinguished 
taste  and  talents,  was  born  at  Chartres,  Dec.  28,  1728,  of 
a  family  which  made  a  considerable  figure  in  the  profession 
of  the  law.  He  appears  to  have  first  served  in  the  army 
under  the  marechal  Richelieu,  and  was  noted  for  his  cou- 
rage. On  his  return  to  Paris,  by  the  advice  of  the  learned 
professor  Guerin,  he  devoted  his  time  to  literature,  and 
was  in  1776  admitted  a  member  of  the  academy  of  inscrip- 
tions. On  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution,  although 
chosen  into  the  convention,  he  was  too  moderate  for  the 
times,  and  was  imprisoned,  and  probably  would  have  ended 
his  days  on  the  scaffold,  had  not  Marat  obtained  his  pardon 
by  representing  him  as  an  old  dotard,  from  whom  nothing 
xvas  to  be  feared.  In  1797  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  council  of  ancients,  and  on  that  occasion  delivered  a 
long  speech  against  the  plan  of  a  national  lottery.  He 
died  March  16,  1799.  His  principal  works  are,  1.  A 
French  translation  of  Juvenal,  by  far  the  best  that  ever 
appeared  in  that  language,  and  which  he  enriched  with 
many  valuable  notes.  It  was  first  published  in  1770,  8vo, 
in  a  very  correct  and  elegant  manner,  and  was  reprinted 
in  1796.  2.  "  De  la  passion  du  Jeu,"  1779,  8vo.  The 
author  had  been  once  fond  of  play,  but  renounced  it 
in  consequence  of  witnessing  the  many  miseries  it  occa- 
sions, which  he  has  displayed  in  this  treatise.  He  was 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Tanner. — Mosheim. — Biog.  Brit.  vol.  VII.  p.  4383. — Wood's 
Fasti,  vol.  I.  In  1744  H.  Jasper  Benzelius  published  at  Helmstadt  a  life  or 
dissertation  on  Dory. — See  also  Burnet's  Life  of  Bedell,  p,  137, — Ward's 
Cresham  Professors,  p.  2iO, 


DUSSAULX.  525 

afterwards,  in  1793  or  1794,  charged  by  the  committee  of 
public  instruction  to  draw  up,  in  conjunction  with  M.  Mer- 
cier,  a  report  on  the  suppression  of  games  of  chance, 
which  produced  a  treatise  from  him,  "  Sur  la  suppression 
des  Jeux  de  Hazard,"  probably  a  repetition  of  what  he  had 
advanced  before.  3.  "  Eloge  de  1'abbe  Blanches,"  pre- 
fixed to  his  works.  4.  "  Memoire  sur  les  Satiriques  Latins,'* 
in  the  43d  vol.  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  academy  of  inscrip- 
tions. 5.  "  Voyage  a  Barrege  et  dans  les  hautes  Pyrenees,'* 
1796,  8vo,  an  amusing  tour,  which  would  not  have  been 
less  so  if  he  had  avoided  an  affected  imitation  of  Sterne. 
6.  "  Mes  rapports  avec  J.  J.Rousseau,"  1798,  Svo,  in  which 
there  are  some  curious  particulars  of  the  Genevan  philoso- 
pher. From  the  Memoirs  of  the  National  Institute  we 
learn  that  when  M.  Dussaulx  was  in  the  army  he  married 
a  lady  who  survived  him,  and  to  whom  he  appears  to 
have  been  attached  with  extraordinary  fidelity  and  unre- 
mitted  affection.  He  declared,  towards  the  close  of  his 
life,  that  she  had  been  his  first  and  his  last  love;  and  it 
was  to  her  he  was  indebted  for  nearly  the  whole  of  his 
literary  reputation.  Madame  Dussaulx,  from  the  casual 
effusions  of  his  pen,  conceived  him  to  be  capable  of  spirited 
as  well  as  elegant  versification,  and  proposed  to  him  to 
translate  particular  passages  of  Juvenal.  These  he  exe- 
cuted with  so  much  success,  that  he  was  incited  by  de- 
grees to  make  a  complete  version  of  the  whole  of  his  sa- 
tires, and  thereby  produced  a  performance  which  secured 
to  him  a  very  large  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  the 
literary  world. l 

DUTENS  (LEWIS),  a  gentleman  of  considerable  literary 
and  political  knowledge,  was  descended  from  a  protestant 
family  in  France,  which  his  father  left  about  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century,  in  order  to  reside  in  England,  where  he 
had  an  opulent  brother,  but  not  finding  the  climate  agree 
with  him,  returned  to  France.  There  he  married,  and 
became  the  father  of  seven  children,  one  of  whom,  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  in  1729,  and  assumed  the 
name  of  Duchiiion  from  a  small  estate  so  called,  which  had 
long  been  the  property  of  his  ancestors.  His  talents,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  account,  were  extraordinary;  in  his 
fifth  year  he  was  a  proficient  at  chess ;  and  at  ten,  he  com- 
posed comedies  for  his  amusement,  enigmas  for  the  Mer- 

1  Di«t.  Hist.— Memoirs  of  the  National  Institute. 


526  DUTENS. 

cure  de  France,  epigrams  in  the  news  of  the  day,  and 
madrigals  for  the  ladies.  He  read  much  in  romances, 
belles  lettres,  poetry,  history,  and  morality,  and  though 
somewhat  roving  and  unsettled  in  his  disposition,  had  evi- 
dently laid  in  a  very  large  stock  of  general  knowledge. 
After  various  youthful  adventures,  which  form  a  very 
amusing  part  of  his  "  Memoires  d'un  Voyageur,"  &c. 
which  he  published  a  few  years  before  his  death,  we  find 
him  appointed,  in  1758,  chaplain  (for  he  was  then  in. 
orders)  and  secretary  to  the  hon.  Stuart  M'Kenzie,  envoy 
extraordinary  to  the  court  of  Turin. 

With  this  gentleman  he  left  London  in  October  of  that 
year,  and  when  Mr.  M'Kenzie  returned  to  England  in  1760, 
Mr.  Dutens  filled  the  honourable  situation  of  charg6  des 
affaires  at  Turin  till  May  1762,  when  he  rejoined  Mr. 
M'Kenzie  at  London,  and  assisted  him  as  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  lord  Bute's  administration.  Before  this  administra- 
tion closed  he  obtained  a  handsome  pension  ;  and  shortly 
after  was  invited  to  resume  his  situation  as  charge  des  af- 
faires at  Turin,  a  place  to  which  he  manifested  an  evident 
partiality.  He  continued  two  years  at  Turin,  and  at  his 
leisure  hours  planned  an  edition  of  Leibnitz's  works,  which 
was  published  in  six  vols.  4to,  at  Geneva,  in  176S,  and 
evinced  the  serious  attention  which  he  had  bestowed  on 
the  opinions  of  that  philosopher,  and  his  extensive  corre- 
spondence at  this  time  with  many  of  the  most  learned  men 
in  Europe.  At  Turin  also  he  displayed  a  very  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  philosophy,  arts,  &c.  of  ancient  and 
modern  times,  by  his  "  Recherches  sur  1'Origine  des  De- 
eouvertes,"  &c.  a  work  in  which  he  endeavours  to  prove 
that  our  most  celebrated  philosophers  have  been  indebted 
to  the  ancients  for.  the  greatest  part  of  their  knowledge. 
This  was  published  at  Paris,  1766,  2  vols.  8vo,  and  after- 
wards translated  into  English  and  published  at  London. 
Although  it  cannot  be  said  that  Mr.  Dutens  has  accom- 
plished his  full  intention  in  this  work,  many  of  his  positions 
being  rather  the  whims  and  caprices  of  a  lively  writer,  in 
support  of  a  pre-conceived  theory,  yet  he  has  at  least 
proved  that  much  of  his  own  time  had  been  devoted  to  the 
inquiry,  and  that  his  range  of  reading  had  been  very  ex- 
tensive. 

Before  he  quitted  Turin,  Mr.  M'Kenzie's  interest  with 
the  duke  of  Northumberland,  then  lord  lieutenant  of  Ire- 
land, procured  him  the  promise  of  a  deanery  in  that -king- 


D  U  T  E  N  S.  527 

dom,  which  he  declined  accepting  ;  but  soon  after  received 
from  the  same  noble  patron  a  presentation  to  the  rectory 
of  Elsdon   in  Northumberland,  then  worth   800/.  a  year  ; 
which  induced  him,  in  1766,  to  return  to  England,  where 
he  received   a  present  of  IQOOl.   from  the  king,  and   was 
highly  delighted  with  the  reception  he  met  with  at  North- 
umberland-house.    In    1768    he   performed    an    extensive 
tour  through  the  continent  with  lord  Algernon  Percy,  the 
duke  of  Northumberland's  son.     In  the  course  of  this  tour, 
some  conversation  at  Genoa  with  the  marchioness  of  Babbi, 
gave  rise  to  a  work  which  Mr.  Dutens  afterwards  published 
at  Rome  under  the  title  of  "  The  Tocsin,"  and  afterwards 
at  Paris,  under  the  title  of  "  Appel  au  bons  sens."     After 
this  tour  was  finished,  he  resided  for  some  time  at  Paris, 
where  he  published  several  works,  and  lived  in  a  perpe- 
tual round  of  splendid  amusements.     In  1776   he  returned 
to    London,     and    lived    much    with    the    Northumberland 
family,  and  with  his   early   patron   Mr.  M'Kenzie,    until 
lord  Montstuart  was  appointed  envoy-extraordinary  to  the 
court  of  Turin,  whom  he  accompanied  as  his  friend,  but 
without    any   official    situation,    except     that    when     lord 
Montstuart  was  called  to  England  upon  private  business, 
he  again   acted  for  a   short  time  as  charge   des  affaires. 
After  this,  according  to  his  memoirs,  his  time  was  divided 
for  many  years  between  a  residence  in  London,  and  occa- 
sional tours  to  the  continent,  with  the  political  affairs  of 
which  he  seems  always  anxious  to  keep  up  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance.    At  length  the  death  of  his  first  friend  and 
patron  placed  him  in  easy  if  not  opulent  circumstances,  as 
that  gentleman   left  him  executor  and  residuary  legatee 
with  his  two  nephews,  lord  Bute  and  the  primate  of  Ire- 
land.    The  value  of  this   legacy  has  been   estimated   at 
15,000/.  which  enabled  Mr.  Dutens  to  pass  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  literary  retirement  and  social  intercourse,  for 
which  he  was  admirably  qualified,  not  only  by  an  exten- 
sive knowledge,  but  by  manners  easy  and  accommodating. 
In  the  complimentary  strain  of  a  courtier  few  men  exceeded 
him,  although    his  profuse  liberality  in   this   article   was 
sometimes  thought  to   lessen  its   value.     He   died  at  his 
house  in  Mount-street,  Grosvenor-square,  May  23,   1812, 
in  his  eighty-third  year.     Not  many  days  before  his  death, 
he  called,  in  a  coach,  on  many  persons  of  eminence  witlt 
whom  he  had  corresponded,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  re- 
turning the  letters  he  had  received  from  them. 


528  D  U  T  E  N  S. 

His  publications,  not  already  noticed  were,  1 .  "  Expli- 
cations des  quelques  Medailles  de  peuple,  de  villes,  et  des 
rois  Grecques  et  Pheniciennes,"  1773,  4to.  2.  The  same 
translated.  3.  "  Itineraire  des  Routes  les  plus  frequent6es; 
ou  Journal  d'un  Voyage  aux  Villes  principales  de  1'Europe," 
often  reprinted.  4.  "  Histoire  de  ce  qui  s'est  passe"  pour 
establissement  d'une  Regence  en  Angleterre.  Par  M. 
L.  D.  Ne  D.  R.  D.  L.  Ge.  Be."  1789,  8vo  ;  in  which  he 
adopted  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Pitt's  administration  on  the 
important  question  of  the  regency,  which,  he  says,  lost 
him  the  favour  of  a  great  personage.  5.  "  Recherches  sur 
le  terns  le  plus  recule  de  1'usage  des  Voutes  chez  les 
Anciens,"  1795.  He  wrote  also  the  French  text  of  the 
second  volume  of  the  Marlborough  gems,  a  task  for  which 
he  was  well  qualified,  as  he  was  an  excellent  classical  an- 
tiquary and  medallist.  In  1771  he  translated  "  The  man- 
ner of  securing  all  sorts  of  brick  buildings  from  fire,"  &c. 
from  the  French  of  count  d'Espie.  His  last  publication,  in 
1805,  was  his  own  history,  in  "  Memoires  d'un  Voyageur," 
&c.  of  which  we  have  availed  ourselves  in  this  sketch ;  but, 
although  this  work  may  often  amuse  the  reader,  and  add  some- 
thing to  the  knowledge  of  human  nature,  it  will  not  perhaps 
create  an  unmixed  regard  for  the  character  of  the  writer.  * 

DUVAL  (ANDREW),  a  celebrated  doctor  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  was  born  at  Pontoise  in  1564.  He  defended  the 
opinions  of  the  Ultramontanes,  and  was  among  Richer'* 
greatest  adversaries.  Duval  was  superior  general  of  the 
French  Carmelites,  senior  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  dean  of 
the  faculty  of  theology  at  Paris,  and  died  September  9, 
1638.  He  left  a  system  of  divinity;  a  treatise  entitled, 
"  De  Suprema  Romani  Pontificis  in  Ecclesiam  potestate," 
1614,  4to ;  a  Commentary  on  the  summary  of  St.  Thomas, 
2  vols.  fol.  "  Vie  de  la  Sosur  Merie  de  1'Incarnation," 
1622,  8vo,  full  of  reveries;  and  other  works.  William 
Duval,  his  relation,  was  professor  at  the  colleges  of  Calvy 
and  Lisieux,  then  at  the  royal  college  in  Paris,  and  after- 
wards doctor  of  physic.  He  published  "  Hist,  du  College 
Roial,"  and  an  edition  of  Aristotle,  1619,  2  vols.  fol.8 

DUVAL  (VALENTINE  JAMERAI),  a  man  of  extraordinary 
talents,  and  who  by  their  means  was  enabled  to  emerge 
from  poverty  and  obscurity,  was  born  in  1695  in  the  little 

1  See  also  Memoirs  «f  Mr.  Dutens  in  Gent.  Mag.  1812,  of  which  some  copies 
were  printed  in  a  quarto  form,  by  Mr.  Nichols,  with,  an  engraving  of  Mr.  Dutens. 
*  Moreri, 


D  U  V  A  L.  529 

village  of  Artonay  in  Champagne.  At  the  age  rjf  ten  years 
he  lost  his  father,  a  poor  labourer,  who  left  his  wife  poor, 
and  burthened  with  children,  at  a  time  when  war  and  fa- 
mine desolated  France.  In  this  state  Dnval  accustomed 
himself  from  his  infancy  to  a  rude  life,  and  to  the  privation 
of  almost  every  necessary.  He  had  scarcely  learned  to 
read,  when,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  he  entered  into 
the  service  of  a  peasant  of  the  same  village,  who  appointed 
him  to  take  care  of  his  poultry,  but  at  the  commencement 
of  the  severe  winter  of  1709,  he  quitted  his  native  place, 
and  travelled  towards  Lorraine.  After  a  few  days  journey 
he  was  seized  by  an  excessive  cold,  and  even  attacked  by 
the  small-pox,  but  by  the  humane  care  of  a  poor  shepherd 
in  the  environs  of  the  village  of  Monglat,  aided  by  the 
strength  of  his  constitution,  he  recovered,  and  quitted  his 
benefactor  to  continue  his  route  as  far  as  Clezantine,  a 
village  on  the  borders  of  Lorraine,  where  he  entered  into 
the  service  of  another  shepherd,  with  whom  he  remained 
two  years  ;  but  taking  a  disgust  to  this  kind  of  life,  chance 
conducted  him  to  the  hermitage  of  La  llochette,  near  De- 
neuvre.  The  hermit,  known  by  the  name  of  brother  Pale- 
mon,  received  him,  made  him  partake  his  rustic  labours, 
and  when  obliged  to  resign  his  place  to  a  hermit  sent  to 
brother  Palemon  by  his  superiors,  he  got  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  hermits  of  St.  Anne,  at  some  distance 
from  La  Rochette,  and  a  mile  or  two  beyond  Luneville, 
where  he  arrived  in  1713,  and  was  entrusted  with  the  care 
of  six  cows,  The  hermits  also  taught  him  to  write;  and  as 
he  had  a  great  ardour  for  books,  he  engaged  in  the  business 
of  the  chase,  and  with  the  money  he  procured  for  his 
game,  was  already  enabled  to  make  a  small  collection  of 
books,  when  an  unexpected  occasion  furnished  him  with 
the  means  of  adding  to  it  some  considerable  works.  Walk-* 
ing  in  the  forest  one  day  in  autumn,  he  found  a  gold  seal, 
with  a  triple  face  well  engraved  on  it.  He  went  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  to  Luneville,  to  entreat  the  vicar  to  publish 
it  in  the  church,  that  the  owner  might  recover  it  by  apply- 
ing to  him  at  the  hermitage.  Some  weeks  after,  a  Mr. 
Foster,  or  Forster,  an  Englishman,  knocked  at  the  gate  of 
St.  Anne's,  and  inquired  for  his. seal.  In  the  course  of  the 
conversation  which  passed  between  l^un  and  Duval,  he  was 
surprized  to  find  that  the  latter  had  picked  up  some  know- 
ledge of  heraldry,  and  being  much  pleased  with  his 
answers,  gave  him  two  guineas  as  a  recompense.  Desirous 
VOL.  XII.  M  M 


530  D  U  V  A  L. 

of  being  better  acquainted  with  this  young  lad,  he  made 
him  promise  to  come  and  breakfast  with  him  at  Luneville 
every  holiday.  Duval  kept  his  word,  and  received  a 
crown-piece  at  every  visit.  This  generosity  of  Mr.  Foster 
continued  during  his  abode  at  Luneville,  and  he  added  to 
it  his  advice  respecting  the  choice  of  books  and  maps. 
The  application  of  Duval,  seconded  by  such  a  guide, 
could  not  fail  of  being  attended  with  improvement,  and  he 
acquired  a  considerable  share  of  various  kind  of  knowledge. 

Tin  number  of  his  books  had  gradually  incivased  to  four 
hundred  volumes,  but  his  wardrobe  continued  the  same. 
A  coarse  linen  coat  for  summer,  and  a  woollen  one  for 
winter,  with  his  wooden  shoes,  constituted  nearly  the 
whole  of  it.  His  frequent  visits  at  Luneville,  the  opulence 
and  luxury  that  prevailed  there,  and  the  state  of  ease  he 
began  to  feel,  did  not  tempt  him  to  quit  his  first  simplicity; 
and  he  would  have  considered  himself  as  guilty  of  robbery 
if  he  had  spent  a  farthing  of  what  was  given  him,  or  what 
he  gained,  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  satisfy  his  pas- 
sion for  study  and  books.  Economical  to  excess  as  to  all 
physical  wants,  and  prodignl  in  whatever  could  contribute 
to  his  instruction  and  extend  his  knowledge,  his  privations 
gave  him  no  pain.  In  proportion  as  his  mind  ripened,  and 
the  circle  of  his  ideas  enlarged,  he  began  to  reflect  upon 
his  abject  state.  He  felt  that  he  was  not  in  his  proper 
place;  and  he  wished  to  change  it.  From  this  instant  a  secret 
inquietude  haunted  him  in  his  retreat,  accompanied  him  in 
the  forest,  and  distracted  him  in  the  midst  of  his  studies. 

Seated  one  day  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  absorbed  in  his 
reflections,  and  surrounded  by  maps  of  geography,  which 
he  examined  with  the  most  eager  attention,  a  gentleman 
suddenly  approached  him,  and  asked  with  an  air  of  sur- 
prise what  he  was  doing. — "  Studying  geography,"  said 
he. — "  And  do  you  understand  any  thing  of  the  subject  r" 
— "  Most  assuredly  ;  I  never  trouble  myself  about  things 
I  do  not  understand." — "  And  what  place  are  you  now 
seeking  for  ?" — "  I  am  trying  to  find  the  most  direct  way 
to  Quebec." — "  For  what  purpose  ?" — "  That  I  might  go 
there,  and  continue  my  studies  in  the  university  of  that 
town." — <£  But  why  need  you  go  for  this  purpose  to  the 
end  of  the  world  ?  There  are  universities  nearer  home, 
superior  to  that  of  Quebec  ;  and  if  it  will  afTord  you  any 
pleasure,  I  will  point  them  out  to  you."  At  this  moment 
they  were  joined  by  a  large  retinue  belonging  to  the  young 
princes  of  Lorraine,  who  were  hunting  in  the  forest  with 


D  U  V  A  L/  531 

count  Vidampiere  and  baron  Pfutschner,  their  governors. 
A  variety  of  questions  were  put  to  Duval,  which  he  an- 
swered with  equal  precision  and  good  sense,  and  without 
being  out  of  countenance.  In  consequence  of  this  inter- 
view, Leopold,  duke  of  Lorraine,  took  him  under  his  pro- 
tection, and  when  he  was  brought  to  the  court  at  Luneville, 
the  duke  received  him  in  the  midst  of  a  numerous  assembly, 
whom  this  singular  event  had  collected.  He  answered 
every  question  that  was  put  to  him,  without  being  confused, 
notwithstanding  the  novelty  of  the  scene  to  him,  and  the 
important  part  he  had  to  act;  and  the  duke  committed  the 
care  of  his  establishment  at  the  college  of  Pont-a-Mousson 
to  baron  Pfutschner.  Here  his  natural  taste  for  study, 
added  to  his  desire  of  answering  the  expectations  of  his 
illustrious  patron,  made  him  redouble  his  zeal.  History, 
geography,  and  antiquities,  were  the  studies  he  preferred, 
and  in  which  his  new  guides  were  peculiarly  qualified  to 
assist  him.  He  lived  two  years  in  this  house;  and  the 
improvement  he  made  was  so  great,  that  duke  Leopold, 
as  a  recompense,  and  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of  still 
further  progress,  permitted  him  in  1718  to  make  a  journey 
to  Paris  in  his  suite.  On  his  return  the  next  year  the  duke 
appointed  him  his  librarian,  and  conferred  on  him  the  of- 
fice of  professor  of  history  in  the  academy  of  Luneville. 

He  shortly  after  read  public  lectures  on  history  and  an- 
tiquities, which  were  attended  with  the  greatest  success, 
and  frequented  by  a  number  of  young  Englishmen,  among 
whom  was  the  immortal  Chatham.  Duval,  struck  with  the 
distinguished  air,  as  well  as  with  the  manly  and  sonorous 
voice  of  this  young  man,  predicted  more  than  once  a  part 
of  his  fate.  The  generosity  of  DuvaPs  pupils,  added  to 
his  own  economy,  soon  enahled  him  to  shew  his  gratitude 
to  the  hermits  of  St.  Anne.  He  formed  the  project  of 
building  a:iew  this  hermitage,  the  cradle  of  his  fortune, 
and  of  consecrating  to  it  all  his  savings.  A  handsome 
square  buuding,  with  a  chapel  in  the  middle  of  it,  and  sur- 
rounded with  a  considerable  quantity  of  land,  consisting  of 
a  garden,  an  orchard,  a  vineyard,  a  nursery  of  the  best 
fruit-trees,  and  some  arable  ground,  were  the  result  of  this 
generous  intention.  His  principles  of  beneficence  and 
humanity  led  him  to  render  this  institution  useful  to  the 
public.  The  hermits  of  St.  Anne  were  ordered  to  furnish 
gratuitously,  and  at  the  distance  of  three  leagues  round, 
the  produce  of  their  nursery,  and  every  kind  of  tree  that 

W  M  2 


532  D  U  V  A  L. 

should  be  demanded  of  them,  and  to  every  person  without 
exception.  They  were  further  obliged  to  go  and  plant 
them  themselves,  if  it  were  required,  without  exacting 
any  reward,  or  even  taking  refreshment,  unless  they  found 
themselves  at  too  great  a  distance  from  the  hermitage  to 
return  to  dinner. 

Duval,  occupied  by  his  studies,  and  the  inspection  of 
the  hermitage  of  St.  Anne,  had  spent  many  years  in  per- 
fect content,  when  an  unexpected  acci  lent  interrupted  his 
felicity.  Dnke  Leopold  died  in  1738,  and  his  son  Francis 
exchanged  the  duchy  of  Lorraine  for  the  grand  duchy  of 
Tuscany.  King  Stanislaus,  the  new  possessor  of  Lorraine, 
used  indeed  the  most  urgent  entreaties  to  prevail  on  Duval 
to  continue  in  the  office  of  professor  in  the  academy  of 
Luneville,  but  his  attachment  to  his  old  patron  would  not 
permit  him  to  listen  to  the  proposal.  He  went  to  Florence, 
where  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  ducai  library,  which 
was  transferred  thither.  Notwithstanding  the  charming 
climate  of  Italy,  Lorraine,  to  which  he  had  so  many  rea- 
sons to  be  attached,  did  not  cease  to  be  the  object  of  his 
regret.  His  regret  was  considerably  increased  by  his  se- 
paration from  the  young  duke  Francis,  who,  on  his  mar- 
riage with  the  heiress  of  the  house  of  Austria,  was  obliged 
of  course  to  reside  at  Vienna.  The  science  of  medals, 
upon  which  Duval  had  already  read  lectures  in  Lorraine, 
became  now  his  favourite  amusement,  and  he  was  desirous 
of  making  a  collection  of  ancient  and  modern  coins.  He 
was  deeply  engaged  in  this  pursuit,  when  the  emperor 
Francis,  who  had  formed  a  similar  design,  sent  for  him, 
that  he  might  have  the  care  and  management  of  the  col- 
lection. In  1751  he  was  appointed  sub-preceptor  to  the 
archduke  Joseph,  the  late  emperor;  but  he  refused  this 
office,  and  gave  the  reasons  of  his  refusal  in  writing.  He 
preserved,  nevertheless,  the  friendship  of  their  majesties, 
and  continued  to  receive  new  proofs  of  it.  He  was,  in- 
deed, beloved  by  all  the  Imperial  family ;  but,  from  his 
extreme  modesty,  he  was  scarcely  acquainted  with  the 
personsof  many  individuals  of  it.  The  eldest  archduchesses 
passing  him  one  day  without  his  appearing  to  know  them, 
the  king  of  the  Romans,  who  was  a  little  behind  them, 
and  who  perceived  his  absence,  asked  him  if  he  knew 
those  ladies  ?  "  No,  sir,"  said  he  ingenuously. — "  I  do 
not  at  all  wonder  at  it,"  replied  the  prince  j  "it  is  because 
xny  sisters  are  not  antiques." 


D  U  V  A  L.  533 

His  health  being  impaired  by  his  close  application  to 
study,  he  was  advised  to  take  a  journey  to  re-establish  it. 
He  returned  into  France,  and  arrived  at  Paris  in  1752, 
where  he  found  a  number  of  persons  who  were  desirous  of 
shewing  him  civilities,  and  rendering  his  abode  agreeable, 
particularly  the  abb6  Lenglet  du  Fresnoy,  M.  du  Fresne 
d'Aubigny,  the  abbe  Barthelemi,  M.  de  Bose,  M.  Duclos, 
and  Madame  de  Graffigny.  On  his  return  he  passed  by 
Artonay,  his  native  village,  and  purchased  his  paternal 
cottage,  which  one  of  his  sisters  had  sold  from  indigence  ; 
and  having  caused,  it  to  be  pulled  down,  he  built  on  the 
spot  a  solid  and  commodious  house,  which  he  made  a  pre- 
sent of  to  the  community,  for  the  abode  of  the  schoolmaster 
of  the  village.  His  beneficence  distinguished  itself  also 
in  a  hamlet  situated  near  Artonay,  where,  finding  that 
there  were  no  wells,  he  had  some  dug  at  his  own  expence. 

From  his  good  constitution,  hardened  by  fatigue,  he 
lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  without  feeling  the 
infirmities  of  old  age.  In  his  eightieth  year  he  was  all 
at  once  attacked  with  the  gravel,  which  brought  him  to 
the  brink  of  the  grave.  In  this  painful  state  his  philo- 
sophy gave  him  a  superiority  over  common  minds  :  a  prey 
to  the  most  excruciating  pains,  his  firmness  and  intrepidity 
were  invincible,  and  he  preserved  all  his  presence  of  mind. 
By  the  cares,  however,  of  the  empress,  his  disorder  took 
a  favourable  turn,  and  he  was  snatched  from  the  arms  of 
death  ;  but  in  the  following  year  he  was  seized  with  a  fever, 
occasioned  by  indigestion,  which  weakened  him  every 
day,  and  put  an  end  to  his  life  Nov.  3,  1775.  His  works 
were  published,  with  Memoirs  of  his  Life,  at  Paris  in  1784, 
2  vols.  Svo.  There  was  also  an  account  of  him  published  in, 
the  Mercure  de  France,  1735.  * 

DYER  (Sin  EDWARD),  a  poet  of  the  Elizabethan  age, 
was  of  the  same  family  with  those  of  his  name  in  Somerset- 
shire, and  was  born  probably  about  1540.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Oxford,  either  in  Baliol  college  or  Broadgate's 
hall,  when  he  discovered  a  propensity  to  poetry,  and  polite 
literature,  but  left  it  without  a  degree,  and  travelled  abroad. 
On  his  return,  having  the  character  of  a  well-bred  man,  ho 
was  taken  into  the  service  of  the  court.  He  now  obtained 
considerable  celebrity  as  a  poet,  and  was  a  contributor  to 
the  "  English  Helicon,"  and  not  to  the  "  Collection  of  Choice 

1  From  a  MS  account  of  Duval,  in  which  tb?re  i.«  too  much  of  the  romantic 
foio«r  purpose, — Sc*!  also  Diqt.  Hrst. 


DYER. 

Flowers  and  Descriptions,1'  as  Wood  says,  in  which  last  hi)* 
name  does  not  appear.  Queen  Elizabeth  had  a  great  re- 
spect for  his  abilities,  and  employed  him  in  several  em- 
bassies, particularly  to  Denmark  in  1589;  and  on  his  re- 
turn from  thence,  conferred  on  him  the  chancellorship  of 
the  garter,  on  the  death  of  sir  John  WoHey,  1596,  and  at 
the  same  time  she  knighted  him  ;  but  like  other  courtiers, 
he  occasionally  suffered  by  her  caprices.  He  was  at  one 
time  reconciled  to  her,  by  her  majesty's  being  taught  to 
believe  that  he  was  sinking  to  the  grave  under  the  weight 
of  her  displeasure.  Sir  Edward  partook  of  the  credulity 
of  the  times,  studied  chemistry,  and  was  thought  to  be  a 
Rosicrusian.  He  was  at  least  a  dupe  to  the  famous  astro- 
logers Dr.  Dee  and  Edward  Kelly,  of  whom  he  has  re- 
corded, that  in  Bohemia  he  saw  them  put  base  metal  in 
a  crucible,  and  after  it  was  set  on  the  fire,  and  stirred  with  a 
stick  of  wood,  it  came  forth  in  great  proportion  pure  gold. 

He  wrote  pastoral  odes  and  madrigals,  some  of  which 
are  in  "  England's  Helicon,"  first  published  at  the  close  of 
queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  lately  republished  in  the 
"  Bibliographer."  He  wrote  also  a  "  Description  of 
Friendship,"  a  poem  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  where 
also,  from  Aubrey's  MS.  we  learn  that  he  almost  entirely 
spent  an  estate  of  4000/.  a  year.  There  is  a  letter  of  his 
to  sir  Christopher  Hatton,  dated  Oct.  9,  1512,  in  the  Har- 
leian  MSS.  and  another  to  the  earl  of  Leicester,  dated 
May  22,  1586,  in  the  Cottonian  collection,  and  some  of 
his  unpublished  verses  are  in  a  MS  collection,  formerly 
belonging  to  Dr.  Uawlinson,  now  in  the  Bodleian  library. 
Sir  Edward  died  some  years  after  James  came  to  the  throne, 
and  was  succeeded  in  his  chancellorship  of  the  garter  by 
sir  John  Herbert,  knt.  principal  secretary  of  state. ' 

DYER,  DIER,  or  DEYER  (Sm  JAMES),  an  eminent 
English  lawyer,  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  ho- 
nourable family  in  Somersetshire,  of  the  same  family  with 
sir  Edward  Dyer,  the  poet,  who  was  fourth  in  descent  from 
sir  James  Dyer's  great-grandfather.  Sir  James  was  the 
second  son  of  Richard  Dyer,  esq.  of  Wincalton  and  Round- 
hill  in  Somersetshire,  at  the  latter  of  which  places  he  was 
born  about  the  year  1512.  Wood  says  he  was  a  commoner 
of  Broadgate-hall  (now  Pembroke  college),  Oxford,  and 
that  he  left  it,  without  taking  a  degree,  probably  about 
J530,  when  he  went  to  the  Middle  Temple.  Here  he  ap- 

'  Woorl'i  Athena^  1813,  vol.1. — Philips's  Theatrum,  by  sir  E.  Brydges.—* 
Bibli<>$rapher,  vwl.  HI,— fiilis's  Specimens,  TO!,  II,— Gent,  Mag.  1813,  p.  5&5, 


DYER.  S3; 

pears  to  have  rendered  himself  conspicuous  for  learning 
anil  talents,  as  in  1552  he  performed  the  office  of  autumnal 
reader  to  that  society ;  a  distinction  which  was  at  that  time 
conferred  only  upon  such  as  were  eminent  in  their  pro- 
fession. He  had,  on  May  10  preceding,  been  called  to 
the  degree  of  serjeant  at  law,  and  in  the  following  No- 
vember his  abilities  were  rewarded  with  the  post  of  king's 
serjeant.  On  the  meeting  of  the  last  parliament  of  Ed- 
ward VI.  1552-3,  Dyer  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house 
of  commons  (that  office  being  considered  in  those  days  as 
peculiarly  appropriated  to  lawyers  of  eminence),  and  iu 
this  capacity,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  March  4,  made  "  an 
ornate  oration  before  the  king."  This  is  the  only  particu- 
lar concerning  the  speaker  which  occurs  in  the  Journals  of 
that  short  parliament,  which  sat  only  for  one  month ;  and 
the  dissolution  of  which  was  quickly  followed  by  the  death 
of  that  excellent  young  prince;  whose  successor,  though 
in  most  respects  she  pursued  measures  totally  opposite  to 
those  of  his  reign,  continued  the  royal  favour  to  Dyer, 
whom,  Oct.  19,  1553,  she  appointed  one  of  her  serjeants, 
In  this  office  his  name  appears  as  one  of  the  commissioners. 
on  the  singular  trial  of  sir  Nicholas  Throckmorton  ;  when 
his  jury,  with  a  freedom  rarely  exercised  in  that  unhappy 
period,  ventured  to  acquit  the  prisoner.  Our  author's 
behaviour  on  that  occasion  is  not  disgraced  by  any  servile 
compliances  with  the  views  of  the  court ;  yet  his  regard  for 
his  own  character  was  tempered  with  so  much  discretion, 
as  not  to  occasion  any  diminution  of  her  majesty's  protec- 
tion ;  for  on  May  20,  1557,  being  at  that  time  recorder  of 
Cambridge,  and  a  knight,  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the 
common  pleas,  whence  on  April  23  of  the  next  year,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  queen's  bench,  where  he  sat  (though 
of  the  reformed  religion)  during  the  remainder  of  this 
reign  as  a  puisne  judge. 

In  the  first  year  of  queen  Elizabeth,  on  Nov.  18,  1559t, 
he  returned  to  the  common  pleas,  of  which  he  was  ap- 
pointed, in  the  following  January,  chief  justice,  an  office 
the  functions  of  which  he  continued  to  exercise  for  more 
than  twenty  years  with  eminent  integrity,  firmness,  and 
ability.  In  the  course  of  this  long  period,  we  find  him  as- 
sisting at  the  trial  of  Thomas  Howard,  duke  of  Norfolk ; 
on  which  occasion  he  opposed  that  unfortunate  nobleman's 
petition  to  have  counsel  assigned  him  ;  and  with  propriety 
as  the  rigorous  complexion  of  the  law  was  at  that  time,  it 
having  been  reserved  for  the  milder  spirit  of  a  latter  age  to 


535  D  Y  E  R. 

indulge  prisoners  in  his  unhappy  situation  with  that  privi- 
lege. In  1571-  he  exhibited  a  singular  proof  of  probity, 
courage,  and  talents,  in  the  spirit  with  which  lie  opposed 
the  attempts  of  sir  John  Conway  to  oppress  a  poor  widow 
of  Warwickshire  (that  county  being  included  in  the  circuit 
which  he  usually  went)  by  forcibly  keeping  possession  of 
her  farm  ;  and  in  his  reply  to  the  articles  preferred  against 
him  to  the  privy  council  by  certain  justices  of  the  peace, 
whom  he  had  severely  reprehended, in  public  at  the  assizes, 
for  partiality  and  negligence  in  permitting  so  gross  a  vio- 
lation of  the  law,  and  whom  he  had  caused  to  be  indicted 
for  the  same.  This  singular  curiosity,  which  is  among  the 
Inner  Temple  MSS.  is  copied  in  Mr.  Vaillant's  Life  of  sir 
James  Dyer,  prefixed  to  his  excellent  edition  of  the  "  Re- 
ports." What  was  the  event  of  the  dispute,  his  biographer 
has  not  been  able  to  discover;  but  thinks  it  reasonable  to 
conclude  that  the  firmness  and  ability  of  Dyer  prevailed 
over  the  malice  of  his  adversaries ;  especially  as  he  expe- 
rienced no  diminution  of  the  queen's  favour,  but  continued 
in  the  full  exercise  of  his  judicial  functions,  without  any 
other  memorable  transaction  that  is  now  known,  down  to 
his  death,  which  happened  at  his  seat  of  Great  Stougbton, 
(an  estate  purchased  by  himself)*  in  the  county  of  Hun- 
tingdon, March  24,  1582,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

Leaving  no  issue  by  his  wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  sif 
Maurice  a  Barrow,  of  Hampshire,  and  relict  of  the  cele- 
brated philologist  sir  Thomas  Elyot,  his  estates  at  Stough- 
ton and  elsewhere,  with  his  mansion-house  in  Charter- 
house church-yard,  descended  to  sir  Richard  Dyer  (grand^ 
son  of  his  elder  brother  John),  whose  grandson  Ludowick, 
in  1653,  sold  .Stoughton  to  sir  Edward  Coke  of  Derbyshire 
(from  whom  it  is  now,  by  purchase,  vested  in  the  family  of 
Walter),  and  the  line  which,  in  1627,  was  honoured  with 
the  title  of  Baronet,  is  now  extinct,  the  last  of  the  family 
dying  in  a  state  of  extreme  indigence. 

Sir  James  Dyer  was  the  author  of  a  large  book  of  Re- 
ports, which  were  published  after  his  decease,  and  have 
been  highly  esteemed  for  their  succinctness  and  solidity. 
They  were  printed  in  1585,  1592,  1601,  1606,  1621,  and 
1672.  That  of  1688  is  enriched  by  the  marginal  notes 
and  references  of  lord  chief  justice  Treby,  and  bears  the 
following  title,  literally  translated  from  the  French:  "Re- 
ports of  several  select  matters  and  resolutions  of  the  reve- 
rend judges  and  sages  of  the  law,  &c."  That  eminent 
lawyer  sir  Edward  Coke  recommends  to  all  students  in  the. 


DYER.  537 

law  these  Reports,  which  he  calls  "  The  summary  and 
fruitful  observations  of  that  famous  and  most  reverend 
judge  and  sage  of  the  law,  sir  James  Dyer."  They  are 
indeed  a  valuable  treasure  to  the  profession.  The  best 
edition  is  that  by  John  Vaillant,  esq.  1794,  3  vols.  8vo, 
with  a  life  of  the  author  from  an  original  MS.  in  the  Inner 
Temple  library.  He  left  behind  him  also  "  A  Reading 
upon  the  statute  of  32  Hen.  v'HI.  cap.  1.  of  Wills;  and 
upon  the  34th  and  35th  rien.  \  III.  cap.  5.  for  the  expla- 
nation of  the  statute,"  printed  at  London  in  1648,  4to. 

By  his  will  he  bequeathed  to  his  nephew  Richard  Farwell, 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Reports,"  all  hU  books  of  the 
law,  "  as  well  abridgments  and  reports  of  myne  owne 
hand-writinge,  as  other  of  the  lawe,"  which  expression 
seems  to  countenance  the  assertion  of  Cole  (Harl.  MSS. 
760,  p.  450,)  that  he  made  an  "  Abridgment  of  the  Law," 
but,  as  nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  discovered,  it  seems 
more  reasonable  to  conclude  that  he  wrote  nothing  except 
these  "  Reports,"  and  the  "  Reading,"  above-mentioned. 
By  these  performances,  and  by  the  services  he  did  his 
country  upon  the  bench,  he  came  fully  up  to  the  character 
which  Camden  has  given  him,  of  being  ever  distinguished 
by  an  equal  and  calm  disposition,  which  rendered  him  in 
all  cases  a  most  upright  judge,  as  his  penetration  and 
learning  ma.de  him  a  fit  interpreter  of  the  laws  of  his  coun- 
try. "  Jacobus  Dierus,"  says  that  historian,  "  in  communi 
placitorum  tribunal!  justiciarius  primarius,  qui  animo  sem- 
per placido  &  sereno  omnes  judicis  asquissimi  partes  im- 
plevit,  &  juris  nostri  prudentiam  commentariis  illustravit."  * 

DYER  (Joiix),  an  English  poet,  was  born  in  1700,  the 
second  son  of  Robert  Dyer,  of  Aberglasney,  in  Caermar- 
thenshire,  a  solicitor  of  great  capacity  and  note.  He  passed 
through  Westminster-school  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Freind, 
and  was  then  called  home  to  be  instructed  in  his  father's 
profession.  His  genius,  however,  led  him  a  different  way; 
for,  besides  his  early  taste  for  poetry,  having  a  passion 
no  less  strong  for  the  arts  of  design,  he  determined  to 
make  painting  his  profession.  With  this  view,  having 
studied  awhile  under  his  master,  he  became,  as  he  tells 
his  friend,  an  itinerant  painter,  and  wandered  about  South 
Wales  and  the  parts  adjacent;  and  about  1727  printed 
"  Grongar  Hill,"  a  poem  which  Dr.  Johnson  says,  "  is 
not  very  accurately  written  ;  but  the  scenes  which  it  dis- 

1  Life  by  Mr.  Vailiant,  whose  accurate  rrsrar^hps  hare  enabled  us  to  cor- 
rect the  ajistakes,  and  supply  the  ooii&iious  of  foiinii-  biographers. 


DYE  R. 

plays  are  so  pleasing,  the  images  which  they  raise  so  wel- 
come to  tne  mind,  and  the  reflections  of  the  writer  so 
consonant  to  the  general  sense  or  experience  of  mankind, 
that  when  it  is  once  read,  it  will  be  read  again."  Being 
probably  unsatisfied  with  his  own  proficiency,  he  made  the 
tour  of  Italy;  where,  besides  the  usual  study  of  the  re- 
mains of  antiquity,  and  the  works  of  the  great  masters,  he 
frequently  spent  whole  days  in  the  country  about  Rome 
and  Florence,  sketching  those  picturesque  prospects  with 
facility  and  spirit.  Images  from  hence  naturally  trans- 
ferred themselves  into  his  poetical  compositions;  the  prin- 
cipal beauties  of  the  "  Ruins  of  Rome,"  are  perhaps  of 
this  kind,  and  the  various  landscapes  in  the  "  Fleece" 
liave  been  particularly  admired.  On  his  return  to  Eng- 
land, he  published  the  "  Ruins  of  Rome,"  1740;  but 
soon  found  that  he  could  not  relish  a  town  life,  nor  sub- 
mit to  the  assiduity  required  in  his  profession  ;  his  talent 
indeed,  was  rather  for  sketching  than  finishing;  so  he  con- 
tentedly sat  down  in  the  country  with  his  little  fortune, 
painting  now  and  then  a  portrait  or  a  landscape,  as  his 
fancy  led  him.  As  his  turn  of  mind  was  rather  se- 
rious, and  his  conduct  and  behaviour  always  irreproach- 
able, he  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  enter  into  orders  ; 
and  it  is  presumed,  though  his  education  had  not  been  re- 
gular, that  he  found  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  them.  He 
was  ordained  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  had  a  law  de- 
gree conferred  011  him. 

About  the  same  time  he  married  a  lady  of  Coleshill, 
named  Ensor ;  "  whose  grandmother,"  says  he,  "  was  a 
Shakspeare,  descended  from  a  brother  of  every  body's 
Shakspeare."  His  ecclesiastical  provision  was  a  long  time 
but  slender.  His  first  patron,  Mr.  Harper,  gave  him  in 
1741,  Cal thorp  in  Leicestershire,  of  80/.  a  year,  on  which 
he  lived  ten  years ;  and  in  April  1757,  exchanged  it  for 
Belchford,  in  Lincolnshire,  of  75/.  which  was  given  him 
by  lord-chancellor  Hard\vicke,  on  the  recommendation  of 
a  friend  to  virtue  and  the  muses*.  His  condition  now  be- 

*  Daniel  Wray,  esq.  one  of  the  de-  of  them   in    answer  to  the  beautiful 

puty  tellers  of  the  exchequer,  and  a  little  poem  which  begins, 

curator  of  the  British  Museum.     For  "  Have  my  friends  in  the  town,  in  the 

this  gentleman  Mr.  Dyer  seems  to  have  gay  busy  town, 

enteiti'ined  the  sincerest  iegard.     Mr.  Forgot  such  a  man  as  John  Dyer?" 

Dyer  calls'"  good  Mr.  Edwards,"  au-  •}•  He  had  a  dispensation  in  Septem- 

thor  of  the   "  Can  <n=   of  Criticism,"  ber  1751,  to  hold    Belchford  and  Co- 

hift  particular  friend  ;  and  in  Savage's  ninjsby;  and  another  in  July    1756, 

poems  are  two  epistles  to  Dyer,  one  to  hold  Coningsby  and  Kirkby. 


DYER.  539 

i  to  mend.      In  the  year  1752  sir  John  Heathcote  gave 
him  ConiDgsby,   of   140/.  a-year;  and   in    1756,   when   he 
was   LL.B.  without  any  solicitation    of  his   own,  obtained 
tor  him,   from   the   chancellor,   Kirkby-on-Bane,    of  1  10/. 
"-J  was  glad   of  this,"  says   Mr.  Dyer,  in    1756,  "  on  ac- 
count of  its  nearness  to  me,   though  I  think  mv^-H  a  loser 
by  the  exchange,   through  the  expence  of  tue   s--al,   dis- 
pensations f,  iourriies,  &c.  and  the  charge  of  an  olJ  house, 
half  of  which    I    am    going   to  pull   doxvn  "      The   house, 
which  is  a  very  good  one,  owes  much  of  its   improvement 
to    Mr.  Dyer.      His   study,   a  little  room  with  white  walls, 
ascended  by  two  steps,   had   a  handsome  window  to  the 
church-yard,  which   he  stopped   up,    and   opened   a  less, 
that  gave  him  a  full   view  of  the  fine  church  and   castle  at 
Tateshall,  about  a  mile  off,  and  of  the  road  leading  to  it. 
He  also  improved   the  garden.     In  May  1757  he  was  em- 
ployed in  rebuilding  a  Lirge  barn,  which  a  late  wind  had 
blown  down,  and  gathering  materials  for  re-building  above 
half  the   parsonage-house  at  Kirkby.     "  These,"   he  says, 
"  some  years  ago,  I  should  have  called  trifles ;   but  the  evil 
days  are   come,   and   the  lightest  thing,    even  the  grass- 
hopper, is  a  burden   upon   the  shoulders   of  the   old  and 
•fickly."      He  had  then  just  published  "  The  Fleece,"  his 
greatest  poetical  work;   of  which  Dr.  Johnson  relates  this 
ludicrous  story  :   Dodsley  the  bookseller  was  one  day  men- 
tioning  it  to  a   critical  visitor,   with   more  expectation  of 
success  than  the   other  could   easily  admit.      In  the   con- 
versation  the  author's  age  was  asked  :  and  being   repre- 
sented as  advanced  in  life,  "  he  will,"  said  the  critic,  "  be 
buried   in   woollen."      He  did  not  indeed  long  outlive  that 
publication,    nor  long   enjoy  the  increase  of  his  pre; 
ments;    for  a   consumptive  disorder,   with    which   he  had 
long  struggled,  carried  him  off  at  length,  July  24,    1758. 
Mr.  Gough,   who  visited  Coningsby   Sept.  .5,   17S2,  could 
find   no  memorial  erected   to   him   in    the   church.      Mr--. 
Dyer,  on  her  husband's  decease,   retired  to  her  friends  in 
Caernarvonshire.     In  17.56  they  had   four  children  living, 
three  giiis  and  a  boy.     Of  these,   Sarah  died  single.     The 
son,  a  youth  of  the  most  amiable  disposition,  heir  to  his 
father's  truly  classical  taste,  and   to  his  uncle's  estate  of 
300/.  or  400/.  a  year  in  Suffolk,   devoted  the  principal  part 
of  his  tiiru   to  travelling;  and  died   in  London,  as  he  was 
preparing  to  set  out  on  a  tour  to  Italy,  in  April  1782,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-t,\o.     This   young  gentleman's  fortune 
divide^  D  two  surviving  sisters  ;  one  of  them 


540  DYER. 

married  to  alderman  Hewitt,  of  Coventry  ;  the  other,  Eli- 
zabeth, to  the  rev.  John  Gaunt,  of  Birmingham*.  Mr. 
Dyer  had  some  brothers,  all  of  whom  were  dead  in  1756, 
except  one,  who  was  a  clergyman,  yeoman  of  his  ma- 
jesty's almonry,  lived  at  Marybone,  and  had  then  a  nume- 
rous family. 

Mr.  Dyer's  character  as  a  writer,  has  been  fixed  by  three 
poems,  "  Grongar  Hill,"  "  The  Ruins  of  Rome,"  and 
"  The  Fleece,"  in  which  a  poetical  imagination  perfectly 
original,  a  natural  simplicity  connected  with  the  true  sub- 
lime, and  often  productive  of  it,  the  warmest  sentiments 
of  benevolence  and  virtue,  have  been  universally  observed 
and  admired.  These  pieces  were  published  separately  in 
his  life-time  ;  but  after  his  death  collected  in  1  vol.  8vo, 
1761  ;  with  a  short  account  of  himself  prefixed.1 
.  DYER  (SAMUEL),  a  man  of  great  learning,  and  the  friend 
and  associate  of  the  literati  of  the  last  age,  was  born  about 
1725,  and  educated  at  Northampton,  under  Dr.  Doddridge, 
and  for  some  time  had  the  additional  benefit  of  being  in- 
structed by  the  learned  Dr.  John  Ward,  professor  of  rhe- 
toric in  Gresham -college.  He  afterwards  studied  under  pro- 
fessor Hutcheson  at  Glasgow,  and  to  complete  his  education, 
his  father,  an  eminent  jeweller  in  London,  sent  him,  by  the 
advice  of  Dr.  Chandler,  to  Ley  den,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  He  became  an  excellent  classical  scholar,  a  great 
mathematician  and  natural  philosopher,  was  well  versed  iti 
the  Hebrew,  and  a  master  of  the  Latin,  Italian,  and  French 
languages.  Added  to  these  endowments,  he  was  of  a 
temper  so  mild^  and  in  his  conversation  so  modest  and  un- 
assuming, that  he  gained  the  attention  and  affection  of  all 
around  him.  In  all  questions  of  science,  Dr.  Johnson 
looked  up  to  him ;  and  in  his  life  of  Dr.  Watts  (where  he 
calls  him  "  the  late  learned  Mr.  Dyer")  has  cited  an  ob- 
servation of  his,  that  Watts  had  confounded  the  idea  of 
space  with  that  of  empty  space,  and  did  not  consider,  that 
though  space  might  be  without  matter,  yet  matter,  being 
extended,  could  not  be  without  space. 

Mr.  Dyer  appears  to  have  been  intended  by  his  early 
friends  for  the  ministry  among  the  dissenters,  but  disco- 
vered an  averseness  to  the  pastoral  office,  which  sir  John 
Hawkiiis  insinuates  to  have  proceeded  from  an  unfavour- 
able change  in  his  religious  sentiments.  Various  literary 

*  In  the  Gent.  Mag    1797,  p.  433,  Mr.  Gaunt  is  said  to  have  married  the 
grand-daughter,  not  the  daughter  of  the  poet. 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Johnson's  English  Poets. 


DYER.  541 

schemes  appear  to  have  been  suggested  to  him,  none  of 
which  he  undertook,  except  in  (158,  the  revisal  of  the 
English  edition  of  Plutarch's  Lives.  In  this  he  translated 
anew  only  the  lives  of  Demetrius  and  Pericles.  In  1759 
he  became  a  commissary  in  the  army  in  Germany,  and 
continued  in  that  station  to  the  end  of  the  seven  years  war, 
after  which  he  returned  to  England,  and  on  the  formation 
of  the  Literary  Club,  (composed  of  Dr.  Johnson  and  his 
friends)  in  1764,  he  was  the  first  member  electee!  into  that 
society,  with  whom  he  continued  to  associate,  and  by  whom 
he  was  highly  esteemed  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  Sept. 
1772.  From  an  excellent  portrait  of  this  gentleman  by  sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  a  mezzotinto  print  was  scraped  by  his 
pupil  Marchi,  of  which  a  copy  was  imposed  on  the  public 
as  the  portrait  of  Dyer  the  poet. 

Sir  John  Hawkins,  in  his  life  of  Johnson,  has  given  a  very 
unfavourable  sketch  of  Mr.  Dyer's  character,  representing 
him  as  an  infidel  and  a  sensualist.  These  charges  Mr. 
Malone,  in  a  long  note  on  his  Life  of  Dryden,  has  mi- 
nutely examined,  with  a  view  to  refute  them,  but  in  our 
opinion  is  more  to  be  praised  for  the  intention  than  the 
execution  of  this  desirable  purpose.  Sir  John  Hawkins 
Feems  to  have  drawn  his  facts  from  personal  knowledge  of 
Dyer.  Mr.  Malone  does  not  pretend  to  this,  and  while  he 
expresses  a.  just  indignation  at  sir  John's  charging  Mr. 
Dyer  with  infidelity  (supposing  the  charge  to  be  false)  he 
tells  us  that  he  himself  had  no  means  of  knowing  what  Mr. 
Dyer's  religious  sentiments  were.  There  is  nothing  con- 
clusive, therefore,  to  be  expected  from  one  who  is  led, 
from  whatever  motive,  to  deny  assertions  without  being 
able  to  prove  that  they  are  untrue.  Mr.  Malone  is  the 
first,  if  we  mistake  not,  who  himself  asserted  what  he  has 
not  in  the  least  attempted  to  prove,  viz.  that  Dyer  was  the 
author  of  Junius's  letters.  This  indeed  he  qualifies  among 
his  errata,  by  saying  that  Dyer  was  not  the  sole  author, 
but  the  principal  author ;  but  even  here  he  offers  no  kind 
of  proof,  nor,  since  the  publication  of  the  late  edition  of 
those  celebrated  letters  will  it  probably  be  thought  that  he 
had  any  to  offer,  more  worthy  of  attention  than  the  con- 
jectures which  have  ascribed  these  letters  to  a  Boyd  or  ^ 
Wilmot.1 

1  Hawkins's  Life  of  Johnson. — Malone's  Dryden,  vol.  I.  p.  222,  and  roU  H. 
137. — Woodfall's  edition  ot.lunius's  Letters,   vol.  I.  p.  100. 


INDEX 

TO    THE 

TWELFTH    VOLUME. 

Those  marked  thus  *  are  new. 
Those  marked  f  are  re-written,  with  additions. 


Page 

*DESSAIX,  L.  C.  A 1 

*Des&eniu.>,  Bernard 2 

Destouches,  Philip 3 

*Devar  us,  Matt 5 

*Devaux,  John    ib. 

*Deventer,  Henry 6 

*Devereux,  Walter   7 

Robert 11 

* Robert,  son 21 

*De  Vergy,  P.  H.  T 23 

*Deusingius,  Anth 24 

*Dewailly,  Charles 25 

D'Ewes,  Sir  Symonds  ....  26 

*Dewit,  James" 3O 

De  Witt,  John 31 

fDezallier,  D'Argenville  ...  36 

fDiagoras 37 

*Diaz,  Earth 38 

John ib. 

Dicearchus 4O 

*Dick,  Sir  Alexander ib. 

Dickinson,  Edmund 42 

•j-Dickson,  David 45 

Dictys  Cretensis 47 

Diderot,  Denys 48 

*Didot,  Francis  A 56 

fDidymus,  the  Scholiast  ...  57 

of  Alexandria  ....  58 

* musician 59 

*Diecman,  John 6O 

*Diemen,  A.  Van ib. 

fDiemerbroeck,  Isbrand.   . .  61 
f  Diepenbeck,  Ab.  Van  . .   . .  6? 

*Diest,  Ab.  Van 63 

*Dieteric,  John  Conrad  . .  .  .  ib. 

Dieu,  Lewis  de  .  . 65 

Digby,  Sir  Everard 66 

• Sir  Kenelm 70 

John,  Lord  Bristol  78 

•    •          George 79 


Di  :-£-es,  Leonard ->•: 

Thomas   S3 

Sir  Dudley 84 

Leonard,  brother  . .  86 

Dudley,  son ib. 

Dillenius,  John  James  ....  87 
Dillon,  Lord  Roscommon  . .  91 

Dilworth,  Thomas 95 

*Dimsdale,  Baron ib. 

*Dinanto,  David  de 97 

Dinarchus 93 

Dingley,  Robert ib. 

Dinocrates 99 

fDinostrates 100 

Dinouart,  A.  J.  T ib. 

*Dinus,  or  Dino loi 

Dio  Cassius 102 

f Chrysostom  104 

fDiodati,  John 105 

Diodorus  Siculus 107 

of  Antioch  ....  109 

* of  Caria 1  lo 

f  Diogenes  the  Cynic Ill 

f Apolloniates  .  . .  115 

* the  Babylonian  .  .  ib. 

Laertius 1 1 G 

fDionis,  Peter 117 

* Du  Sejour 1  IS 

Dionysius  Periegetes 119 

Halicarnassensis  120 

* • the  younger  123 

Arcopagita ib. 

of  Corinth   ....  124 

of  Alexandria  .  .  125 

* Exiguus 126 

* Greek  poet  ....  127 

fDiophantus 123 

Dioscoricles,  Pedacius  ....  129 

Dippel,  J.  Conrad 131 

*Dirois,  Francis 132 


INDEX. 


*Disney,  John  . . 132 

fDithmar 135 

f Justus  Christ ib. 

•j-Ditton,  Humph 137 

fDlugoss,  J.  L 140 

Dobsou,  William 142 

*Dod,  John 143 

•fDodart,  Denis 145 

*Dodd,  Charles 146 

Dr.  William 14? 

*Dodington,  Ld.Melcombe  153 

*Doddridge,  Sir  John 157 

-f- Philip 1 59 

fDodoens,  Rembert 165 

fDodsley,  Robert 1G7 

*Dodson,  Michael 178 

Dodsworth,  Roger 180 

fDodwell,  Henry 162 

* 191 

* '• William ib. 

*Does,  Jacob  Vander  . .  . .  193 

* son ib. 

* Simon  Vander  ....  194 

Dogget,  Thomas ib. 

*Dogherty,  Thomas 196' 

tDolben/ John 197 

*Dolce,  Carlo 203 

f Lewis 204 

fDolet,  Stephen 205 

*Dollond,  John 210 

*Dolomieu,  D 216 

Domat,  John 217 

*Dombey,  Joseph 219 

fDomenichino 223 

f  Dominic,  St ,  .  227 

Dominis,  M.  A.  de 231 

*Donaldson,  John 233 

* Walter 234 

fDonatello,  or  Donate  ....  235 
*Donati,  Vitaliano 236 

Donato,  Alexander 237 

* Bernardin ib. 

Jerom 238 

Donatus  of  Casee  Nigrae  . .  239 

"•     -  of  Carthage ib. 

f y£lius 241 

Donde,  or  Dondus,  James  242 

*Donducci,  G.  A ib. 

fDoneau,  Hugh 243 

Doni,  Anth.  Francis 244 

* John  Baptist ib. 


Doni  D'Attichi,  Lewis  . . .  245 


Page 

*Donn,  Abraham 246 

fDonne,  John 247 

*Doody,  Samuel 263 

fDoolittle,  Thomas ib. 

*Doppelmaier,  J.  G 265 

Doria,  Andrew ib. 

fDorigny,  Michael 270 

* Lewis ib. 

f Sir  Nicholas 271 

JDoringk,  Matt 272 

*Dorman,  Thos 274 

Dornavius,  Gaspar 275 

*Dorpius,  Martin ib. 

*Dorsane,  Ant ib, 

Dositheus 2?6 

*Dossi,  Dosso ib. 

*Doucin ,  Lewis 277 

*Doughty,  John 278 

-fDoHglas,  Gawin 279 

f James 282 

f John,  surgeon  . .  283 

* John)  bishop  . .  . .  ib. 

*Doujat,  John 290 

Dousa,  Janus 292 

f Douw,  Gerhard  294 

*Dovisi,  Bernard 296 

*Downham,  George 297 

Downing,  Calybute 298 

*Do\vnman,  Hugh 299 

Drabicius,  Nich 302 

f  Draco 305 

Drake,  sir  Francis ib. 

| Francis 312 

James ib. 

fDrakenborch,  Arnold  ....  315 
*Drant,  Thos 31G 

Draper,  Sir  William ib. 

*Draudius,  George 313 

Drayton,  Mich ib. 

Drebel,  Cornelius 322 

Drelincourt,  Charles ib. 

* son  .  324 

Dresserus,  Matt 326 

Drcux  du  Radier,  J.  ¥ 3S7 

*Drexelius,  Jer 328 

*Di  iedo,  John ib. 

Drinker,  Edward 320 

*Drummond,  George  ....  332 

* Robert  Hay  .  333 

| William  ....  336 

Drury,  Robert 341 

* '..  William 


544 


INDEX. 


Page 

Drusius,  John 342 

*Druthmar,  Christ 345 

f  Dryander,  John ib. 

Dryden,  John 346 

sons 364 

*Drysd::le,  John 365 

Dnaren,  Francis       36'7 

*Dubois,  Charles  Francis   .  368 

•f-Dubos,  J.  B 369 

*Dubourg,  Annas 371 

Dubraw,  John 372 

*Duby,  P.  A.  T -.373 

*Duc,  Nich  Le  .  . 374 

fDucarel,  And.  Col 375 

Ducas,  Michael 385 

*Duccio,  Di  Boninsegna  .  . .  ib. 

Duchal,  James 386 

Duchat,  Jacob  Le ib. 

Duche  de  Vancy,  J.  F 387 

Duck,  Arthur  ." 388 

Stephen 389 

Duclos,  Charles  Dineau  . .  392 

fDudith,  Andrew 395 

Dudley,  Edmund 396 

John   400 

• Ambrose 405 

• Robert 406 

Sir  Robert 414 

Dugard,  Will 418 

Dugdale,  Will 420 

fDuguet,  J.  J 427 

fDuisbourg,  Peter  of   ....  428 

fDuke,  Richard ib. 

*Duker,  Charles  Andrew  . .  430 

*Dulcinus 431 

Dumee,  Joan ib. 

Dumont,  John ib. 

Dunbar,  Will 432 

*Duncan,  Adam,  Lord  ....  434 

Daniel 442 

-f Mark 448 

William 449 

|Duncombe,  William  ....  452 
— < John  . .          . .  456 


Pa-e 
*Dundas,  V-.bert  ........  463 

*  —  •  ---  son   ....  465 

*  -  Henry,  Lord  Mei- 

ville  .......  '  ..........  4?0 

475 


Dunlop,  Will  ...........  476 

--  Alex  ..........  477 

*  unning,   Lord  Ashburton  ib. 

•  unois,  John  ..........  483 

t    un«,  John  ............  484 

*  unstable,  John  .......  486 

*,.ui>tan,  St  ...........  487 

»  unton,  John  .....  ....  490 

*  u  Pan,  J.  M  ...........  491 

Lu  PaLy  ..............  492 

-)I  upin,  Lewis  Ellies    ....  493 

]  .'npleix,  Joseph  ........  498 

--  Scipio  ........  499 

fDuport,  James  ........  500 

*  -  John  ..........  502 

Duppa,  Brian  ..........  ib. 

r  prat,  Anth  ..........  505 

D'  pre,  Nich.  Francis  ....  506 

*Di;iand,  David   ........  507 

*  --  William    .......  508 

*  --  de  St.  Pourrain.   .  .  ib. 
fDurant,  Gilles  .  .  ..'....  509 

Duranti,  J.  S  ............  ib. 

fDurd,  John  ...........  51O 

*Durell,  David  ..........  512 

Durer,  Albert  ..........  513 

Duret,  Le\vis   ..........  517 

Durfey,  Thomas  ........  518 

f  Durham,  James  ........  520 

*  ---  William  .  .  .....  521 

Dury,  John  ............  ib. 

*Dussaulx,  John  ........  524 

*Dutens,  Lewis  .........  525 

*Duval,  And  ...........  528 

---  Val.  Jamerai  ......  ib. 

*Dyer,  Sir  Edward   ......  533 

f  -  Sir  James   ........  534 

-  John   ............  537 

*  -  Samuel   .  .  .  540 


END    OF    THE    TWELFTH    VOLUME. 


Printed  by  NICHOLS,  SON,  and  BENTLFY, 
ReJ  Lion  Passage,  Fleet  Street,  London, 


EFT.  FEB201961 


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